Maximum MacGyver
by Hideout Writer
Summary: MacGyver investigates Itex, and gets caught. To the outside world, he was shot. As an experiment, he lives on.
1. Chapter 1

He was in a large cage. It was probably as big as eight of the crates next to him in terms of area. He remembered why he wasn't on his houseboat.

[_Flashback:_]

"C'mon Mac! I don't have anyone else to help me on this. Everyone else that I wanted to send was already out on other missions, or absolutely HATED kids."

"Kids? Pete, you'd better not be pulling my leg."

"This is serious, Mac. There are reports of genetic experimentation, and it seems that they've been using children as their genetic testbeds."

"Aww, Pete! I swear, we go through this every time you want me to do something. I try t turn you down, and then you come up with an excellent argument as to why I should go."

"So you'll go?"

"You know how much I hate needles." MacGyver paused, sighed, then, "Fine, I'll go. But you owe me one, Pete!"

[_End Flashback_]

_Author's note: So, you know how all those tv shows give you a little bit of the episode before they give you the theme song and all that crap? Well, I decided to try that here. Call to mind your idea of what the Flock members look like, and have them in various 2-sec motion shots, at least three or four of each member, and while you're doing that, play the MacGyver theme song in your head, and include a couple shot of Peter Thorton, and Angus MacGyver. Maximum Ride and Co, are owned by James Patterson, and MacGyver is owned by Paramount, but played by Richard Dean Anderson. Enjoy, and you better review this story at the end, or Karma will catch you! MacGyver and Peter Thorton have not aged a bit for the purposes of this fanfic. The song should be over now, so go read the remainder of the story._

_So that was how he got here. But why was he in a crate?_

_He had been trying to get in, in fact, he had already in, having picked the lock about five minutes ago. He had a camera, and was taking shots of the various files he had been ordered to find and record. He was almost finished when a person walked in._

"_Can I help you?" The voice was too silken sweet._

_MacGyver turned to see who was there, and saw what appeared to be a twenty-three year old male standing in the doorway._

"_No, I was just finishing up here."_

_The male grinned wolfishly, which disconcerted MacGyver._

"_Oh, good. Then you wouldn't mind coming with me."_

_MacGyver knew he was in trouble, and proceeded to send the images he had gotten. The camera had a special satellite hookup that could relay the photos in case of an emergency. This qualified. In addition to the images, MacGyver sent a short message. It read: 'Pete, I'm in trouble. I need help.'_

_The Eraser knocked the camera out of Mac's hand, and it hit the floor, breaking into several small pieces. There was a miniature explosion as a few key components exploded upon exposure to oxygen._

_The Eraser motioned for one of his minions, and then drew a dart gun. He fired, and the tranquilizer dart hit MacGyver in the wrist._

"_OW! Did ya really have to do tha…" he slumped to the floor, unconscious._

"_Take him to the holding cell. I'm sure that the doctors will wish to examine him." he said. The underling rushed to do his bidding, and the elder Eraser turned away, headed for the office where the scientists were congregated._

"_I found the intruder. He is sedated and in holding cell 1. He had a camera, but it is destroyed."_

"_Batchelder. Use test serum number 02023 on our guest. I'll have McKarthy down to document the results in a few minutes. Oh, and be sure to 'secretly inform' the avian/human 'flock' that you've arranged for an escape in a few days if they can just hold tight. Don't tell them that we already know that they will be quote/unquote 'escaping'."_

"_Yes, sir." Jeb Batchelder walked out of the room._

_Jeb had stopped at one of the unused labs designated for storage, and obtained a vial of the compound known as '02023', along with a syringe. He then walked briskly to holding cell one, where MacGyver was slowly coming to._

"_Oh… where am I?"_

"_That doesn't matter." Jeb said, affecting a cold personality._

_MacGyver's head snapped up._

"_Who're you?" he asked._

"_That also doesn't matter." Jeb filled the syringe with the serum, and then tapped it a couple times to that the air bubbles would float to the tip of the needle. He then pushed a slight amount out, causing a few drops to go flying from the needle. At that, MacGyver attempted to avoid the needle in any way available._

"_Guards!" called Jeb._

_Two Erasers walked in._

"_Hold him down so I can administer this."_

_They obeyed, holding him down so that he couldn't do anything. His right sleeve was quickly rolled up, and the needle was inserted into a main vein. Jeb pushed the syringe, and the contents of the needle were swiftly dumped into Mac's bloodstream. The Erasers forced him to his feet._

"_Take him to the cages. Give him the metamorphosis cage. And get rid of his clothes. Not destroyed, but not on him while the change occurs."_

"_Yes, sir." responded on of the Erasers. They escorted him to the cage, where he was unceremoniously stripped of his clothing and given a bloodstained pair of shorts in place of his pants. They shoved him in, and locked the cage. There were cages on both sides of him, for a total of eight cages. The front was clear, obviously, and the back also afforded a view of the world outside the cage. He struggled with the door, trying to open it._

"_Don't waste your strength." advised one of the cages._

_MacGyver looked in the direction of the voice, and saw a girl who couldn't have been much more that sixteen peering through the bars at him._

"_Who're you?" he asked._

"_I'm Max."_

"_Is that short for anything?"_

"_Maximum. Maximum Ride. Above me is Fang, behind me is Iggy, and above Iggy is Angel."_

_Upon hearing her name, Angel brought her face over to the side of the cage facing MacGyver's cage._

"_Who're you?" she asked._

"_My name's MacGyver. I'm here from the Phoenix Foundation. We had heard rumor of genetic experimentation on children, and I was sent over here to investigate. This wasn't exactly part of the plan."_

_Continuing with her verbal tour, Max said "On the other side of you are the Gasman, and Nudge. You'll probably learn how to differentiate them soon enough."_

"_Why did they call this the metamorphosis cage?" MacGyver asked, feeling sick._

"_Because people have been given serums that alter their genetic code-" she was cut off my MacGyver collapsing to the floor of his cage. His back began to split open on both sides of his spine, and blood flowed freely as new flesh was created at a breakneck speed. The general shape of his new wings formed, but it was still just a shapeless mass of tissue. Bones began to form, giving the tips of his wings shape, but it would be several hours before they were finished. MacGyver's breathing had become very shallow, and the sensors in the crate indicated that he might not make it. A lab tech briskly walked in, and opened the door to MacGyver's crate, waiting with a needle of adrenaline. A cart with monitors was rolled in, and the cords were connected to the sensor output points. Three minutes later, MacGyver's heart stopped. The tech rolled him onto his side, and waited for one minute before pushing the needle of adrenaline straight into Mac's heart. A moment later, his heart began functioning again. Within four minutes, his heart was back to normal parameters. The techs took the cart away, now that the danger was past. Five minutes later, the experiments were alone. Jeb walked in then. He quietly walked over to Max's cage, and looked around as if he were afraid of getting caught._

"_Max."_

_Max whirled around, and saw Jeb there. "You!" she hissed._

"_Yes, I have an escape all planned out for you guys in a few days, but you'll have to hang tight 'til then. I'll be breaking you out at roughly midnight."_

"_Fine." anyone listening could tell that she didn't trust him any farther than she could throw him._

_Seemingly unperturbed, Jeb slid over to MacGyver's cage, and observed the unconscious man for a long moment, then stood up, and walked out._


	2. Chapter 2

_Me: Oh, yeah, I'm cool!_

_JP: Hi there!_

_Me: Mom told me to never talk to strangers._

_JP: Well, that's alright, you already know me._

_Me: I do?_

_JP: Yeah, I'm the guy that OWNS Maximum Ride._

_Me: Wait, your saying that I don't own Max or anything related?_

_JP {smug}: Yup._

_Me: Well, YOU LOST THE GAME!_

_JP: You suck._

_Paramount Studios: Hiya guys, watcha talking about?_

_Me: Nothing._

_PS: Well, we just wanted to make sure that you knew that you don't have any rights at all to the character of MacGyver._

_Me: Well, I just lost the game._

_JP:YOU STILL SUCK!_

_PS: YOU SUCK! Wait, don't butt in on this JP!_

_Well, you heard them, I don't own Max or MacGyver. BUT I do own Ajax, my OC, so there, JP, PS!_

The freshly-minted hybrid stirred for the first time in thirty-eight hours.

"Did anyone get the plate on the truck that hit me?" MacGyver asked, disoriented.

"You didn't get hit by any truck. You lost a lot of blood while developing wings." Max bluntly stated.

"Wings?" As in, angel wings or something?"

"Or something." Max replied dryly.

Mac twisted to get a better look at his back, and saw a mound of flesh running out of his field of vision. It was more or less wing shaped, but MacGyver somehow knew it would be a while before they were fit for anything beyond the gross factor, and he didn't particularly relish that.

"The last subject that underwent this procedure developed a-"Max was very suddenly interrupted by MacGyver's muted yell of pain as his brain began developing neural paths from his brain to his new wings.

"…splitting headache." she finished lamely, seeing she was a moment late.

"Do you know how this serum stuff works?"

"It's a virus of sorts. It is designed to replace key elements of your human DNA with avian DNA without too much resistance from your immune system. It includes a genetic enhancer of sorts; I think it's supposed to make the serum work faster."

"Well, that's great to know. Is there an antidote for it?"

"If there is, it's far too late for that."

"Great." Mac's sarcastic response came.

"We're breaking out in two or three days, so hold tight, and we'll get you out of here. Can you fight?"

"I prefer not to, but yes, I can fight. I'm better at using my surroundings as resources and weapons."

"Well, I can pretty much guarantee that you'll have to fight to survive, and you'll be eating things you never thought you would have to. It's disgusting for you, but for us, it's life, and you just got dropped into it. I mean, unless you'd like to stay here and be subjected to those scientist's inhumane experiments."

No answer was given as MacGyver quietly slipped into the warm embrace of unconsciousness.

"I guess his headache went a bit far." Gazzy observed.

Three hours passed before MacGyver returned to the world of the living, and just as he did so, at technician and two erasers walked in. They opened the crate, and hauled him out.

"Take him to the anagram room, and prep him for removal of key memories." the tech said, making notes on the clipboard. He peered in at Max, and jotted something down on his board.

"This one is just about ready for dissection, I think." he said, standing up.

Max trembled in her crate, realizing for the first time exactly how close death was. Across from her, Nudge stiffened, then began to cry quietly in the back corner of her crate.

"Unfortunately, I haven't the time right now. Maybe in three weeks from now…" The tech walked out.

In the anagram room, MacGyver had been strapped to a chair, and several diodes were already connected to his head.

"Do you have the key time area selected yet?"

"Almost. We still have a few diodes to attach. …almost…there! Got it."

"Good, I was almost ready to try the serum on you because you were moving too slow to be of any use. Start the machine. Have it remove memories from when he was first given the assignment, to just after he woke up in the crate."

"Yes sir."

The machine started, and memories began falling out of his head. Within five minutes all memories within the selected time period had been removed. As the machine shut off, Mac's brain shut down to protect him from the confusing effects of the anagram remover.

"Take him back to his crate." Two erasers that had been standing at the door sprang into action, and hauled MacGyver to the crate he had been in.

Back in the experiment holding room, the erasers thrust MacGyver back into the crate he had been held in. Max looked at him, worried about what his presence meant for her flock when the time came to escape.

_**You have to take him with you**_ the Voice said

_**WHAT!**_ Max scream thought at it.

_**He will help you in the days ahead. You will need him in your mission.**_ The Voice fell silent.

"_Great, just great. Now I've got to add some guy who's fashion sensibilities were stuck in the 80's, and who has only just grown wings. Yeah, this is gonna turn out well."_

Max finished whining in her head when MacGyver stirred.

"Huunnnnng." MacGyver groaned. "What the…where am I?"

"You are in the experiment holding room one." Max stated matter of factly.

"How did I get here?"

"You really don't remember?"

"No. I was on my houseboat, and then…nothing and then here."

"They must have erased your memories."

"Oh, right, because that makes so much sense." MacGyver shot back sarcastically.

"Well, look behind you." Max responded, barely managing to keep her cool.

"Right, I'm not falling for that trick. I know there's noth…" MacGyver trailed off as he looked at his back.

His wings had finished developing, and were only missing a few feathers here and there.

"Not falling for that trick, huh?" Max said smugly.

"OK! You win. What all should I know that I've lost or don't know yet?"

"Well, you lost a lot of blood when you grew wings. You passed out, and nearly died because of it. After that, you woke up again, and your brain began to wire itself for your wings, causing a massive headache that ended up forcing you into the realm of the unconscious. After you awoke again, two erasers took you to a place called the anagram room. I'm guessing that's where your memories were removed. You had said something about being sent here from the Phoenix Foundation. Apparently, you guys had heard about the genetic experimentation happening here, and you were sent to investigate. Something went wrong, and you were captured, and injected with a DNA altering serum. That's about all I can tell you about yourself, sorry."

"Well, that's all right. At least it's better than nothing. I can still remember the rest of my life."

"We're set to escape in a couple days. Jeb said he'd found a hole in security. Two days from now, this place will be short on Erasers. Apparently, someone had failed to factor the training time correctly, and had begun their next batch of Erasers three days late. When the current set expires, we're getting out of here."

"Expires? As in, dies?"

"Yes, they have an expiration date programmed into their genetic coding. They live for six years before they expire. According to Jeb, this set should expire in about thirty-nine and a half hours from here."

_A/N: Sorry about the filler at the top, but I had to do the disclaimer. From now on, I'll just say that people can refer to chap.2 for the disc._

_Answers to Readers:_

_Ninth Feather: Yup, I wrote it all right. I'm not sure what I'm about to break in the house while writing it, but I'm writing it. It's been forever since I've seen a MacGyver ep._

_GallifreyanGhostGirl: This is what's next. When writing Fan Fiction, I tend towards the slightly random, so watch out, and buckle in tight because this is going to be one wild [person from above: ROCK!] (Hideout Writer holds his head level while the object falls.) This is going to be one wild FF._


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: You want a disclaimer? Go to chapter two, I'm not rewriting it for each chapter._

_NINTHFEATHER! You posted well before I was ready, meaning that I had to write this chapter quicker than I normally do._

_Ajax is my OC, I hope you don't hate him too much. (He very sensitive)_

Jeb entered the room. Instantly, all eyes in the room were on him. Jeb calmly walked over to Mac's cage, and let him out. He then moved over to Max's cage, and let her out as well.

"I assume you have a plan for the two of us?" Max queried, acid dripping from her words.

"Yes. You are to teach er," he consulted a chart "Subject 28089-niner how to fly."

"Who is Subject 28089-niner?"

"This guy." Jeb said, acting like it was obvious.

"I have a name, you know."

"Not anymore. You died, technically speaking. At that point, we notified your employer, and your death certificate has already been signed. I'm sorry, but all that's out of my hands. Now remember, there will be Erasers in the sky at all times while you are out flying."

The trio entered an elevator, and Jeb pushed a button before continuing.

"Any attempt to go beyond the perimeter will interpreted as an attempt to escape, and dealt with accordingly. Any attempt to destroy an Eraser will be seen as an attempt to escape, and will also be dealt with accordingly. In other words, 28089-niner, keep your nose clean, and you might get to live another day."

The elevator arrived, and Max just shy of catapulted out of the enclosure. They were on the roof of the building, and as soon as MacGyver stepped off of the elevator, Jeb pushed a button, and the matte black outer doors closed.

"Well, I'm going to teach you how to fly if it kills you." Max said, calming slightly now that she was out of the elevator. "we're also going to find a new name for you."

"What's wrong with my real name?"

"The fact that you died."

"Right…and you want to call me…what?"

"I was thinking eighties throwback as a temporary name."

"That's a nasty name."

"Well, duct tape it. Now it's awesome." Max shot back with sarcasm.

MacGyver had no response for this.

"Now, about flying…this building is six stories. That translates to 'this building is tall enough to learn how to fly from'. I going to push you off the building, and you are going to fly…I hope. Just ah…remember to flap!" She said brightly.

"Yeah…about that…"

"Geronimo!" Max cried as she ran towards him.

Purely out of instinct, Mac tipped forwards, and plummeted from the roof of the building. Max hadn't even pushed him.

On the roof, Max couldn't stop, and ended up running off the roof. "Oops!" She yelled out.

Below, Mac had just figured out that he had wings on his back, and that there were only two stories left before he hit the ground. A pair of Erasers moved in, prepared to scoop him up if he turned out to not be able to fly. Three seconds before it was too late, Mac shifted his wings, and used his airspeed to create lift. Shifting a few feathers, his angle of approach changed, and a moment later he was climbing on the force of his momentum.

Momentum gave out at about two and a half stories, and he began loosing altitude again. This time, he remembered to flap, and he managed to make a very clumsy landing on his face. Max landed nearby, and walked over.

"I guess it's a little to late to teach you about landing, seeing how you already know all about landing; on your face."

Mac raised his head, and spat out a mouthful of dirt. "Ptah! Is there a hose or something nearby?"

"Yeah, over here."

After Mac had the water going from the hose, and had washed his mouth out, Max decided to try a different tack.

"I should have taught you how to move your wings first. Let's go to the top of the building again."

The two Avian Americans walked up the fire escape to the top of the roof, where the found a new bird kid. He was wearing a blaze orange jacket with a royal blue symbol on the shoulder. It looked like a capital t next to an oddly shaped n. The 'n' was odd in that the second arm of the n wrapped around to a point just under the first arm. The 'Tn' shaped symbol was surrounded by a circle, the same royal blue as the lettering. He was faced away from the stairs, and as Max watched, the stranger took off his jacket, revealing a pair of mottled brown wings with electric blue tips. He began a series of exercises with his wings to make sure he had control.

"Just follow his wing movements, and try to do the same." Max ordered.

MacGyver obeyed, and soon felt like his wings were second nature. While Mac had been copying the stranger's movements, the stranger had stepped over to the edge of the building.

Once at the edge, the stranger paused, as if forgetting something. He whirled around, and stopped dead.

"Who're you?" There was an edge of accusation.

"I'm MacGyver, and this is Maximum Ride." Mac piped up.

"You're not MacGyver anymore." hissed Max "you're the eighties throwback."

"I hate that designation." Mac hissed back.

"Well, live with it." Max hissed in response.

"Hey, at least eighties throwback isn't as bad as 'Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero-One'. My name is Ajax, but the name you heard before was a Borg designation."

"Borg?"

"You've never watched Star Trek?" Ajax asked, incredulous.

"No…should I?"

"Not at this juncture, but it could help. Okay, no it won't help, but I like to think that it does."

"How were you able to hear what we were saying?" Max queried.

"I have my ways." Ajax said. "Maybe I'll share them." He snatched his jacket up off the roof. "Later." he added, forcefully. Stepping to the edge once again, he looked down. A moment later, Max and MacGyver joined him on the parapet. Ajax looked left, then right, as if preparing to cross a street. As Max and MacGyver looked to see if they could figure it out, Ajax tipped forward, and fell off of the building. He snapped his wings open, and banked left before beginning to flap.

"Just do what he does…"Max trailed off as Ajax pulled off an inverted dive, finishing with a lateral roll to the right.

"I have to pull that off?" MacGyver asked, incredulous.

"Ah…No."

Mac jumped, and began to (clumsily) imitate Ajax's motions. Within a few minutes though, he had gotten the hang of it, and was flying better with each passing moment.

_I guess that here is as good a place as any to stop for the time being. I'm really not pissed that Ninthfeather updated, but I did have to rush production so I could update ASAP._

_Answers to readers: _

_Ninthfeather: Now I've lost the Game again! I read about the serum from another writer on FF, and used information I remembered from Stargate Atlantis to boost credibility. Even if the science isn't there, it still stands though. This is Fan Fiction, after all. I'm sorry to hear that people just slap wings on, and call it good. As for the whities taking Mac's memories, I **wrote** the whitecoats to do that! I didn't **let** them, I **forced** them to. I'll keep it up so long as you keep it up._

_Nobody else answered, so...Read, review, tune in next time, and remember that CAKE IS A LIE!_

_Note: If you wish to see the symbol in question, I have it posted on my profile.(or will very soon)  
_


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: I think I've waited long enough. I'm going to put the pressure on NinthFeather to update her MR/MacGyver crossover. I own Ajax, so suck it, JP!_

_JP: Darn!_

_Me: On top of that, you lost the Game!_

_JP: Wha-YOU SUCK!_

Thirty minutes had passed since Mac had jumped off of the roof in an attempt to imitate Ajax. He was a solid flyer by now, but his wings were getting tired. Flapping harder so as to reach the roof, he realized that he had not seen Ajax for ten minutes or more. When he reached to roof, he looked around. Max nimbly dropped out of the sky onto the roof with barely a sound.

"How do you do that?" he asked.

"What?"

"The near noiseless landing on the roof."

"Oh, practice."

"Where's Ajax? I should probably thank him for helping me figure out how to fly."

"Umm, I haven't seen him recently."

MacGyver walked to the elevator doors, and then walked around the square-ish outcropping of the roof. As soon as he had sidestepped it, he found Ajax. The juvenile bird-kid was peacefully sleeping on the roof, wings ever so slightly spread, and using his jacket as a pillow.

"Think we should wake him?" Mac asked.

"No, let him be. He's probably enjoying what time he has away from the clutches of the whitecoats. Either he has no fighting skills, or he's a pacifist, because I didn't see him even so much as think about running away."

So saying, the pair walked away from the slumbering hybrid.

Twenty minutes later,

"Up and away, eighties throwback!" Max ordered.

"Why?" MacGyver complained.

"Because if you don't your wings will be killing you for the next three days." Max walked over to him, and whispered. "Look, if you just want to hang out here, that's fine by me. But I happen to know that roughly six years ago, a mistake was made, and we are going to cash in on it soon. Jeb told me that we are escaping this place very soon. We leave as soon as the current batch of Erasers expire. Now, there is no way in hell we are going to carry you out when that time comes, so you'd better be ready to fly. Now" she said stepping away again, "Up, and away."

MacGyver complied, if only because he didn't want to be going through more pain later.

Meanwhile, Max decided to take a closer look at Ajax. It just wasn't normal to sleep on top of a building in the bright sun when it was at least a hundred and ten degrees Fahrenheit. Landing silently nearby, she quietly walked over to him and knelt down to see his face better. His eyes were darting around quite rapidly, even more rapidly that REM sleep. As she watched, his breathing became deeper, and she backed away, not wanting to be nearby when he woke. A moment after she had stepped away, Ajax groaned, and flipped over into a sitting position. Blinking rapidly to clear the remnants of sleep from his eyes, he stood up. He made a fluid motion with his left hand, from right to left, as if opening a computer window in the air. He then began tapping the section of air he had swiped his hand to. Two minutes later, he finished, and closed his hand from the spread open position to a fist.

"_We are back in control, force them to surrender."_ Ajax jumped off of the roof, and began circling down.

Meanwhile, Jeb had returned to the roof.

"Get Experiment 28089-niner, time's up." Jeb ordered.

"Hey, eighties throwback! You're right, that _is_ a nasty name. Time's up, we have to go back downstairs."

MacGyver dropped heavily out of the sky, landing on the roof with a thud.

"You really need to work on your landings." Max remarked with amusement as MacGyver picked himself up off the roof.

"Tell me that _before_ I face-plant!" Mac retorted.

"Sorry."

"You are not."

"True, but it's polite to say that I'm sorry." Max walked over to the elevator.

As soon as Max and MacGyver were in the elevator, Jeb pressed the button, and the elevator descended. The elevator had almost reached it's destination when Jeb reached down and flipped a rather large looking switch. The descent stopped, and the lights dimmed to battery backup.

"You leave in three days." Jeb deadpanned.

He threw the switch again, and the elevator arrived with a too-cheerful ding. Maximum and MacGyver both stopped for a moment to glare at it, before Jeb shoved them out of the elevator, trying to maintain his professional distance. He pointed towards the experiment holding room, and Max pretended to slink towards the holding room, acting as if the senior scientist had thoroughly cowed her. MacGyver followed her lead, and soon they were back in their cages.

"What happened?" whispered the Gasman.

"I was taught, rather brutally, how to fly. I've gotten a good feel for it, though, and when the time comes, I coming with you guys."

"Yeah, cause you're totally an awesome fighter." Iggy whispered, searing sarcasm lacing his words.

"Hey! I'll have you know that I can take a pile of junk and turn it into something useful in almost any situation." Mac retorted.

"Hey!" hissed Max, quietly. "I can't keep calling you 'eighties throwback', so pick a name."

MacGyver blinked, wondering why she had so suddenly stopped pushing that point. 'Will Mac satisfy you?" he asked.

"Fine." Max grumbled. "I'll come up with one myself." Her eyes flicked back and forth as she mentally reviewed everything she knew about him. "Junkyard." she said at last. "You're name is Junkyard."

"What?" he hissed, incredulous.

"Yep." she said, popping the p. "You shall be known as Junkyard, because you could do just about anything in a junkyard."

Mac closed his eyes, and silently counted to ten, hoping that this was all just a weird dream. As he did so, he idly wondered why he hadn't thought of it before. While he had his eyes closed, he tried pinching himself. Neither tactic worked, and he opened his eyes to see the laboratory holding, just as he had before he closed his eyes. He was greatly disappointed, but didn't show it.

Above him, Angel said "This isn't a dream, Junkyard."

MacGyver winced. He still hated the name. Max had finally decided to go to sleep, and the moment she did, strange glyphs began sliding across her field of vision. She opened her eyes with a gasp, but there was nothing to see. Her surroundings were pure white, as far as she could see. A moment later, a person appeared out nowhere.

"Hello Max." he said calmly.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"I am Ajax. Surely you remember me from the roof?"

"Yeah…but what are you doing here? Actually, skip that. Why am I here?"

"I think I'll answer both. The first, I am a guardian angel, sent to help your Flock, even the new one. Don't worry, he won't be that much of a drag, and he will leave soon enough."

"Okay…why am I here?" Max had calmed down from her first moments in the blankness, and was approaching the situation with a slightly more level head.

"Simple. In the upcoming months, there will be times when you need a place to escape to, somewhere where pain is rendered meaningless, and you can recover. This is that place."

"Why is it so…white? It reminds me of the whitecoats."

"The reason for that is because you haven't done anything here yet." a ghost of a smile flitted across Ajax' face. "_You_ get to customize this place."

"Well, then…" Max trailed off, thinking. "I want peaceful, earthy tones of color, like brown and forest green instead of this infuriating whiteness."

No sooner had the words left her mouth than the entire expanse took on a forest green color, with a chocolate brown floor.

"Wow. Did…did I do that?"

"Yup. I think you'll get the hang of this place pretty quickly. And, if you ever decide you want to change anything later, you can. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other things I must do, but I'll come back for you in about half an hour, outside time. Inside" here he gestured all around. "It could feel like five minutes, or it could feel like five hours. It's all up to you." Ajax disappeared in a fold of royal blue light.

Max made a house, and redesigned the expanse to feel like a huge field under a cloudless sky. Trees came into being, and after Max had finished with the place, it was as close as she could get to Heaven. She had noticed that the area of blank space was not as unlimited as she had thought, when as she was flying for a bit, she flew through an odd, crackling wall. Upon landing, she found that Fang was meticulously putting the finishing touches on his front porch.

"Fang?"

He jumped. "Max! How are you here? I was alone."

"So was I, but I had been flying, and I flew right through this really weird wall, then I saw your house, and thought I'd investigate." Max explained. In her head, she was thinking, 'wow, I really surprised him. Eight words, at once!'

_In the lab:_

Unseen by any security camera, Eraser, or whitecoat, Ajax stood in front of the cages, a gentle smile on his face. Part one had been completed, now he had a widespread heart attack to orchestrate among the Eraser population of the School. Midnight sounded good to him, and he proceeded to set things up with help from his friends, Scion and Veritas.

"Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, MacGyver. The time is now to wake up." With that, he vanished even from their view.

_Answers to Readers:_

_The Layman: Told ya._

_GallifreyanGhostGirl: I agree that Max isn't much better with assembling a fashionable ensemble, but Mac's attire is…well, eighties!_

_NinthFeather: Yes, I like to look like I know what I'm doing, so that when the REAL experts drop by, (and who's to say they don't?) I look like someone who's actually knowledgeable in these subjects, instead of making up words and technologies like left-handed-tri-correlated-phase-remodulator._

_Huffleclawmage: I'm sorry I ruined your life, but I must spread the truth when not spreading fiction. A sad fact of life, but I got over it quick. You must have seen one other MRMG fic here, NinethFeather is writing one as well, and she started before me!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Hey, guess what? I made another chapter really quickly, cause I FINALLY figured out where this story is going._

The scientists were doing their thing, and knowing that the current batch was on their way out, they began to cater to the wishes of the human-lupin hybrids. They would die soon anyway, so why not? In reality, the facility was becoming too expensive to operate, and they needed bases that were less obvious. Most of the experiments were not strong willed enough to attempt escape, and they were to be airlifted to the new location. Maximum Ride and her increasingly annoying band of human avian hybrids would have been much more likely to affect an escape of some kind, and there would be enough trouble with the move as it was. It made more sense to just let them go. Meanwhile…

_In the experiment holding room:_

The varying members of the Flock found that their conscious minds were returning to the real world, but the voice that had called them out was nowhere to be seen.

Just then, an underling marched in, and released the locks to Max and Macgyver's cages.

"Follow me." he ordered curtly.

MacGyver crawled out of his crate, and stretched every member of his body before moving anywhere. After a moment, Max had crawled out, and made the hand sign to Fang for 'wait here'.

As soon as they were in the elevator, MacGyver rolled his head first to the left, then the right, eliciting a sharp series of pops as he did so. Upon noting the underling's reaction, Max did the same, causing a similar sound to come from her neck. The elevator reached the top level, and the doors opened. Max stepped off quickly, and MacGyver followed at a more leisurely pace. The intern shoved him out a little roughly, then closed the doors behind him.

Six Erasers walked out from behind the elevator, and Max tightened up, preparing for battle.

"Those things are fast, mean, and lean. They're also far stronger than you're average man or wolf. If you have any tricks, use 'em now, 'cause we might not have another chance." Max whispered.

"As a matter of fact, I do have a plan." Junkyard replied. He reached into his pockets. "I can't believe the stupidity of those guys downstairs, they gave me my clothes back, with all the stuff I had."

Max sniggered. "Yeah, that was a dumb move on their part."

"I happen to have a Swiss Army knife, and collapsible fishing rod, and several other essentials with me. Now, what I'm going to do is tie one end of the line to the corkscrew on the knife, and hold the reel from the fishing rod."

At this point, the duo, who had been walking backwards slowly, so as to avoid dealing with the Erasers, found the edge of the roof. Mac turned and leapt, saying "Follow me, I'll tell you."

Max turned and dove off the roof, wings spread out, and began slowing down just in time to see Macgyver face-plant himself again. "You really do need to work on the landings, there, big boy." she said.

He spit out a mouthful of dirt. "I noticed that. Now, I'm going to tie this…" he carefully tied the fishing wire to the corkscrew, and handed it to Max. "Here."

Max took it. "Now what?"

"I'm not a sky fighter, at least not yet, so when they land, we are going to get as far apart as we can, then together we run past and around them, making them get caught in the fishing string. Got it?"

"Yeah…here they come." Max said.

The two avian Americans split up, and dashed past the Erasers, each holding one end of the wire. They had both been smart enough to hold it at throat height, so that their opponents air supply would be cut off, and they wouldn't have to actually fight the Erasers. MacGyver knew that he wasn't ready for them, and knew that Max knew as well. As soon as their lines grew taut, they turned and looped around, making sure not to hit the other as they passed each other. The plan worked, and after a moment, the Erasers, who had been clawing at their throats, trying to get rid of the wire, collapsed to the ground.

Max's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Pretty good." she admitted. "I didn't think that would work."

"Told ya." Mac said.

"Let's work with those landings of yours."

MacGyver jumped straight up, spreading his wings in the process. After stabilizing, He flew up to the roof, where Max was already waiting for him.

"How'd you get up here so quick?" MacGyver asked.

"I'm lighter and more experienced. You know what? You can keep your old name, it's too hard trying to remember your new one."

"Thanks." MacGyver said, a little too cheerfully.

"Now, watch this." Max leapt into the sky, and flew away from the edge of the roof before doubling back to land. "Watch my landing." she said, noting that MacGyver was not truly paying attention. She landed gracefully, knees bent slightly to absorb the impact, then took two steps to bleed off the excess momentum of flight.

MacGyver had watched the whole thing carefully, studying the mechanics of the maneuver.

"Now, you try it."

He stepped to the edge, and flew off, doubling back after a moment. His landing was hard, and he barely stayed upright, running several paces to deal with the momentum. Max had seen the whole thing before, and with a practiced eye, picked out the flaws in his landing.

"Okay, that was good, but you won't always have a runway to land on, and you'll also want to be quieter in certain situations. You were still leaning too far forward, more in form for flight than for landing. You don't want to be leaned forward much more than fifteen degrees for a landing, you came in at forty degrees. Try it again."

MacGyver groaned internally, but 'did it again', and came up with better results, though his landing was still heavy.

"Better, but you're still a bit loud. Try it once more."

Mac tried again, this time approaching a bit lower. If he had been flying regularly, he would have bashed into the building without a well-executed course correction. He landed noiselessly.

"Cheater." was all that Max said.

Mac just shot a look her way, then tensed up. There were eight more Erasers on the flight deck, and they looked very interested in the pair of avian recombinants.

"Oh, this is just not what I need." Max groaned.

"We could just fight them." Mac suggested.

"You think you've got enough for _four_ Erasers without backup? You're insane."

"No, I've done this before. Watch."

Mac rushed forward, then turned a false trip into a roll that ended with Mac's shoes in the face of one of their attackers. The Eraser went down like a lead sack, his wind pipe crushed beyond immediate repair. The remaining seven had not had time to register what had happened before MacGyver had taken down their comrade. Nevertheless, they rounded on him, eager to grind him into the pavement of the roof. Max saw that this maniac was going to need help, and rushed into the fray, a roundhouse kick taking out another one of the lupine mutants. It went down, struggling. One of the Erasers walked slightly away from the fray, and just…keeled over. Max performed a two handed chop to the head of a fourth Eraser, and while it didn't take him out, the Eraser did stagger about for several seconds, enabling Mac to drive his elbow in it's stomach. It doubled over, heaving, and Mac jumped on it's back, breaking it. The remaining four regrouped, amazed that two had taken down four of their comrades, and had little damage themselves. Another Eraser keeled over, having expired. Deciding to deal with the avians before they too expired, they rushed the pair. Max bent down while Mac rolled away. Two of the erasers broke off, and went after MacGyver, leaving the other one to deal with Max. Max flipped the Eraser with an ease that screamed of practice.

Hovering near the corner of the building, unseen to the combatants, was a figure dressed in black. Her dress would remind anyone who saw her of a stringed instrument, and her had ribbed wings flared out, moving slightly to maintain her position in the air currents of Death Valley.

"Anything that The Enemy thinks is worth protecting is worth stealing." she murmured to herself. It had been decided that she would use the power tactic to corrupt her targets, but now was not the time, and here was not the place, especially with that interloper Ajax nearby.

"Seventh. One wrong move, and you go back to the Pit you came from."

_Speak of the devil_. She thought. There wasn't much she could do with an angelic weapon pressed against her throat. "And just what do you want from me?" she said, hoping to lure him away from the task at hand.

"Leaving my charges alone would be an excellent start." he growled.

"Very well." she said. _for now._

Ajax released her. "Going back to Hell would be great too."

"Well, I'm afraid I just can't accommodate you on either of those points." she said sweetly.

Ajax shuddered. The syrupy tone of her voice would have been enough to give him diabetes if he wasn't already protected. "Fortunately, I have other things to do right now than play with your insignificant 'charges', and I really do have other places to be right now. Ta-ta." So saying, she vanished in a thick black cloud of smoke. None of the combatants truly noticed her presence, or the lack thereof, due to her invisibility. Ajax sat on top of the elevator shaft and glowered, deep in thought.

"_Can I just take her out next time I see her, Father?"_

There was a Heavenly chuckle. _"You are just like Michael. No, her targets must be the ones to fight her off this time. You are to provide them with the tools needed, but you cannot interfere with the battle itself."_

"_Understood. How much power am I allowed in the realm of the physical?"_

"_As much as you need, my son."_

"_Thank you."_ Ajax sat there for another half hour before he got up, and began preparations for the moving of the Flock. His first move was to set up several fast food restaurants with far more food than they would normally need at roughly the same time that the Flock showed up. He also set up a credit card in the name of Maximum Ride in a location near their second stop.

At the School, Erasers had been dropping in a steady stream for most of the day. By midnight, there would be none left. Trucks had been coming and going in a steady stream, taking equipment and experiments with them. Seven avian Americans watched as experiment after experiment was picked up and moved out of the room. At four minutes to midnight, Jeb Batchelder walked in, looking nervous, and carrying a small ring of keys. After opening the crates that housed the members of the Flock, he went to the door.

"Are you coming?" he hissed.

As Max realized that it could be a trap, just then Ajax entered, visible to the Flock. Max paused a moment, then nodded, determined. Jeb opened a door to a stairwell, then began climbing the stairs, two at a time. The got to the top floor, and were making their way to the roof door when a scientist spotted them. Jeb had ducked into a lab after giving directions to Max, declining to go further with them, saying that "if I get caught, I won't be able to help you at all." The scientist yelled out, and then threw a dart at the Flock. The dart was tipped with a sedative agent, and when it hit Angel, she barely had time to look at it before everything went black, and she knew no more…

Ajax had watched as she pulled the dart out of her leg and look at it a moment before passing out. Max had turned back, but Ajax was already there, cradling Angel in his arms. "Go." he said, and Max continued on her way, leading the Flock to the door. It was locked, but Iggy picked it in a record fourteen seconds, and the Flock emerged on the roof. Fang locked the door behind them, and as one, the Flock took to the skies.

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Me: Okay, so I'm trying something I've never done before…

Max: What the heck is with that chapter ending? I mean, that's almost as bad as riding off into the sunset!

Me: Sorry! I didn't know you were the one in charge here!

JP: She's not, I am.

Me: Really?

JP: Uh-huh.

Me: Well then, what about Paramount?

P: Yes, actually we are in charge, seeing as how we are so incredibly rich in comparison with you.

*JP and Paramount Pictures goes to staring match mode*

Me: great, now I can finish this section.

Mac: What the heck is going on here?

Me: Who left the door open?

Iggy: Nobody left the door open, I picked it.

Me: …*picks up brackets, screws, and a two-by-four* OUT!

*JP and Paramount doesn't notice*

Iggy: Aww, man, we just got here!

Me: Out, or I rearrange the furniture without telling you, and make sure the Flock can't tell you about it!

Iggy: Going…I'm going

Me: You too, or I start borrowing nicknames from NinthFeather.

Mac: There's nothing she said that could have been that bad…I hope.

Me: Oh yeah? Walking Mullet?

Mac: *conniption fit* I'm going.

Me: Good. *Screws the brackets to the wall on either side of the door, and places the two by four in the brackets.*

Max: I'm still here you know. Locking the door can't protect you from me, cause I'm already inside.

Me: *Gulp, sweats nervously* I…I cou-could wr-write y-y-y-y-your d-death!

Max: Nice balcony you have there, I'm using it as an exit now.

JP and Paramount Pictures: Since we're not getting any money (at all) from this, the least you can do as a reader is review this…this whatever it is.

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_The URL to a pic of the demoness mentioned is: __.com/?order=5&q=apocalyptia#/d388u6u_

_Anyway…on to answers for readers!_

_To The Layman, no he wouldn't be, MacGyver is almost as much the clothing as anything else._

_To NinthFeather, yes, I lost THE GAME, but that's okay. By reading this, you did too! I'm so happy! As for the where am I going with it…you'll have to read and see._


	6. Chapter 6 first half

_A/N: I'm on a roll with this, due to the quasi plot line that I have for this story. Enjoy, and if you finished reading the Author's Note, you LOST THE GAME!_

Angel was completely out cold, and would not be returning to consciousness anytime soon. Ajax was carrying her, and had taken up a position behind and to the left of Max, with Fang behind and to the right. The Flock was flying in a rough v shape, trying to maximize the time they would be able to stay in the air.

"So…you have a plan as to where you're headed?" Ajax asked.

"East and south." Max said. "Eventually, we'll hit the Gulf of Mexico."

"ETA to landing?"

"We'll land in a few hours. I want to put some distance between us and the School." Max replied shortly, beginning to tire of the questions.

"Good 'nuff." Ajax said.

The Flock flew on in silence.

Two hours later, they began flying over the Mojave National Reserve.

"We'll stop here." Max said wearily.

The Flock descended noiselessly, it had been a long day, and all were weary. Once on the ground, Ajax gently set Angel down on the ground, then moved her slightly so she wouldn't have massive cramps in her wings when she finally did wake up.

"Seeing as how I'm probably the most wakeful of all of us, I'll take first watch after we get the fire going." Ajax called behind him, already well on his way to finding some wood.

Max found that she didn't have the energy to disagree, and went to check on the other members of the Flock. Gazzy and Iggy were talking quietly, and Fang was Mr. Rock as usual. Nudge was so exhausted that she didn't say anything beyond "What's for dinner?"

As it turned out, there was only a backpack full of Powerbars that Jeb had handed Max before leaving the Flock to escape. After distributing a few to each, Max motioned for Fang to give her the second backpack that Jeb had given them. Max found two tarps and a ball of string. While Max was trying to decide exactly what the tarps were for, Ajax returned with a suitable amount of firewood, which was unceremoniously dumped for the Gasman to deal with. He was also dragging a large, relatively straight branch, which he propped up in the lowest fork of a tree.

"How did you…?" Max said in amazement.

"I helped Jeb pack those backpacks." Ajax said. "I know what's in them."

MacGyver had been busy with the branch while Max and Ajax were talking, and within a few moments, he had the branch lashed in place, and was situating the tarps over it. Five minutes later, he had the tarps sewn to the branch, and secured to various sticks placed in the ground.

"That ought to provide some decent shelter." he said, standing up. He had created a two wall tent, and the fire was directly in front of it.

"You know, normally, we just hang onto a tree and sleep there." Max said. "It takes less time to set up and take down." she added sarcastically.

"You know, I hadn't thought of that." Ajax said thoughtfully, rolling out two sleeping bags. They were extra large in size, big enough for three Flock members per bag. "On the other wing, it gets cold out here in the desert. So…if you enjoy being warm, there's a warm place to lay your head til morn, or you can freeze in a tree." Ajax started to walk towards where the Gasman was attempting to build a fire. "It's your call."

"I can't seem to get this thing going." The Gasman complained. "I think the lighter's out of gas."

"Just fart in it." Iggy said seriously. After a moment, his composure broke, and he began to snicker at the idea of Gazzy bottling his signature scent.

"I've got a better idea." Ajax said. He held out a bottle towards Gazzy. "Here, put your fumes in there."

Ajax yanked a small shovel out of subspace, a flare of blue light running the length of the tool before the rift sealed itself again.

"Uh, Gaz? What's going on? I'm kinda in the dark here."

"Oh, uh Ajax just pulled a shovel out of thin air, and he's digging a hole with it."

"Oh. That's cool…wait, he pulled a shovel out of thin air?"

"Uh, yeah." Iggy's exclamation drew the attention of the Flock.

"Subspace. I pulled it out of subspace. It is essentially an unlimited storage location that moves with me. You 'bout finished with that bottle, Gaz?"

"Here you go." The Gasman responded, all too cheerfully, holding out the bottle. Ajax caught a whiff of the gas within and grimaced. "That right there is a strong stench, boys and girls."

"Why do you think he's called the Gasman?" Max asked.

"That is a really good question." Ajax responded flippantly. "I'm guessing it _might_ have something to do with the uh, _gas_? But that's just my opinion, and I'm not expert in these matters."

All eyes were on the dueling sarcastics.

"Right." Max said slowly, letting everyone present know that she had seen exactly where he was going.

Ajax coolly turned from the duel, and fitted a small nozzle to the bottle. The gasses within the bottle were transferred to a tiny pressure sphere, which was then activated. Ajax propped up a small flow nozzle in the hole he had dug, then carefully fitted a rubber tube to it. At this point, everyone was watching to see what was going on. Ajax buried the whole thing except for the tube coming from the device. He casually blew a blast of air through the tube, causing some dirt to be shifted away from the flow nozzle.

"Build your fire directly over that nozzle." he said to Gazzy. After the fire was built, Max remembered that it was extremely late, probably three in the morning.

"I've got first watch, remember?" Ajax said. "You guys go to sleep, you'll be needing it." He turned back to the as-yet unlit fire. Pulling out a mega match, he ran it over a slice of fifty grit sandpaper he had for that particular job, and pushed the flaming match towards the pile of sticks, but backed off at the last moment.

Reaching over, he adjusted the gas flow knob on the tank so that the _odor le Gaz_ could escape the pressure tank into the fire. After that, he pushed the match into the not yet burning fire. The kindling caught almost at once, and Ajax got well back. Gazzy was still watching him, though the boys were all in a single sleeping bag, and supposed to be sleeping. Apparently, Iggy was awake as well, for Gazzy was whispering to him, probably talking about the fire. All of a sudden, the gas from the flow nozzle mixed with the fire, causing a massive fireball. It settled after a few moments, leaving a low hissing sound as the gas slowly came out of the tube. Satisfied that the fire would continue to burn, Ajax began climbing a nearby tree. As soon as the Flock was asleep, Ajax moved purely to the realm of the spiritual, and called for fifty angels to join him at the Flock's camp. As the group approached the camp, Ajax explained that he needed for there to be no coyotes or other desert animals lurking about while the Flock slept. As soon as they had taken their positions, Ajax slipped into the trance that the Flock was entering. One by one, the members of the Flock found themselves lying in a grassy field.

"Were are we?" Max demanded.

"Once again, you are in the realm of the mental. I found that in your own worlds, the theme of a grassy field with a cloudless sky was common across the entire Flock. This time however, you are not here to carve out a place of recovery. You are here to learn how to fight. Ordinary things like what you might do to an Eraser will not work here, it's an entirely different environment with different rules."

Ajax moved his left arm to the side, and it looked like he was gripping something. When he pulled back, the others saw that he had a rod in his hand.

"I can do may things with this piece alone." he said, passing it to Max to pass around the Flock.

Max envisioned using it as a blunt force weapon, and handed it to Nudge. As Nudge examined it, she couldn't help but think how much like a light saber it looked. Suddenly, it shifted slightly in her hand, and ignited. A cool blue beam of light, about four feet long, shot out of one end. It hummed quietly, and Nudge waved it around a little, hearing the humming change slightly as she did so.

"Good! You figured out how to use it! Don't tell anyone how you figured it out, they need to learn on their own." Ajax said. Nudge hadn't even realized that the rest of the Flock had disappeared for a moment. The weapon deactivated, returning to it's former shape.

Nudge handed it to Angel, who, after a cursory glance at the rod, handed it off to Fang.

Fang saw it as the hilt of a sword, and the rod shifted, taking the exact shape of the sword he had envisioned.

Again, Ajax repeated the warning, and then Fang handed it to Iggy, the sword having changed back to being nothing more than a rod. Iggy was enjoying just being here, because his sight was not impaired here. He examined the rod, attempting to figure out the function. He passed it to Gazzy.

Gazzy had been thinking off an M-16 when the rod was handed to him, and when it touched his hands, it squirmed, shifted, and grew 'til it was the size and shape of an M-16. He squeezed off a few rounds, a big grin on his face, when Ajax warned him not to tell anyone.

When MacGyver got his shot at it, he was thinking that it could be a bow, or a golf-club, or even a lateral-cranial impact enhancer. It shifted to a bow, then a golf-club, and then the lateral-cranial impact enhancer.

Ajax had seen all three forms, and decided to question him about it.

"What was that second item?"

"That. Was a pitch wedge, it's used in golf to hit a white ball towards a target range of about fifteen feet."

"And the third item?"

"That was a random piece of junk I picked up in an airplane hangar, and I dubbed it a 'lateral-cranial impact enhancer'."

"How does it work?"

"You hit someone in the side of the head with it." MacGyver said, as if it was the most logical thing in the world.

"Oh." Ajax took back the rod, and when he had the attention of all members of the Flock, he activated the weapon, molding it into a sword that he had in real life. A rod, about half as thick as the original rod, grew out of the device, extending to a distance of two feet in length, ending in a blunt tip. After that, two single edged blades grew out if the handle, on opposite sides to each other. The blades lengthened, widening towards the tip, before slimming to a point at the very tip of each blade.

"Today, we are going to learn how to use thought inspired weaponry and armor. Catch!" Ajax threw a five inch wide circle to each person.

"This," He held up the disk. "is an armor disk."

He placed it flat against his chest, and let go. The disk stayed put.

"When activated…" the disk glowed for a moment, the sections of armor began to 'flash' into place. "it can create any armor you can think of. Go ahead, try it."

Max hesitantly placed it on her chest and removed her hand. She seemed slightly relieved that it stayed where she had placed it. Gazzy placed it on his chest, and thought of Iron Man's armor, though a color of green so ghastly that it should have been outlawed. Max couldn't really think of anything, and she was certain that she didn't want to.

"This is cool!" Gazzy said, eighty feet up in the air. He had managed to stabilize the suit, and was just hovering in place, trying to decide what to do next.

Fang's armor was reminiscent of a walking tank, and rather stiff, though it did have bumped out section in the back for his wings.

Max took a deep breath, and the only thing she could think of was the armor that Ajax was wearing. Was she opened her eyes, the disk glowed briefly for a moment, then segments of armor began to 'flash' into place just like Ajax's armor. Her wings were spread out behind her, and as she turned her head to look at them, the armor began enclosing her wings in a flexible adamantium carapace. She briefly wondered about a helmet, and then the queer feeling that accompanied the spreading armor began to slide up her neck. It closed over the top of her head just as she gave a muffled cry, then the armor was complete. As she looked at Fang, the view screen began to display pertinent information in a never ending scrolling of data to the left side of her vision. To her right was more data scrolling, this data was displaying suit diagnostics instead of information from the outside world. She opened her mouth to speak, and a glowing rectangle dropped down with the words comm link: active before scrolling back up again.

"Anybody besides me a little freaked out by this?" she asked over the intercom.

"This is really cool!" Nudge said. "I was able to like be fashionable with my armor, and it's really soft and smooth on the inside, and really strong on the outside, but it looks like"

"Computer." Max ordered, hoping there was a computer in her helmet. There was a soft bleeping noise. "Mute comm signal Nudge." The computer bleeped in reply, and Nudge's voice cut out.

Angel chose to report in. "I thought it would be all tight and restrictive, but it's like it reads my thoughts, and now I'm moving faster! That's all I've got, Angel out." There was a tone, and Angel's comm symbol dropped out of the HUD in Max's helmet.

Gazzy shut down his thrusters unceremoniously, and dropped to the ground with a thud. "That was cool! I bet I could even blow stuff up with this thing, just like Iron Man does."

"In other words, yes Max, you are the only one who was even slightly freaked out by this armor thing." Max muttered to herself. "Now, how do I get rid of my helmet?" A moment later, the panels that made up her helmet began to simply vanish, leaving her head free of the near-impervious carapace that somehow read her thoughts.

"All right, the fun's over, try to get out of your armor." Ajax said.

Max was out of hers in record time, though the disk still stuck to her shirt, making it sag awkwardly. Fang's tank vanished, leaving only the black disk, though it almost seemed to blend in with his equally black shirt.

Iggy's danger-sign and black/yellow tape encrusted bi-pedal monster vanished, leaving the pale bird kid roughly fifteen feet in the air. He landed without incident, and all eyes turned to Nudge. She had taken an…artistic approach to her armor design, and it looked more like some sort of gown that might be worn to a wedding than an actual protective suit. It vanished after several seconds, leaving Nudge to pout about not being allowed to keep it on. Gazzy launched himself fifty feet into the air before making his special carapace disappear. He dropped back to the ground in a slow spiral. Angel's armor was already off, and MacGyver was in the process of removing his armor. For some reason, MacGyver hadn't been able to shake the idea of ancient armor when he had placed the disk over his chest. That was what was now disappearing, huge section by huge section.

"Now that you've worked out how your armor works, it's time to learn how to use your weapons."

Nudge raised her hand like she was in a class. "Yes Nudge?"

"Can we keep the weapons and armor?" Nudge asked. "Because that would be like,"

"Nudge."

"really cool, especially if we could have them like out in the real world,"

"Nudge?"

"although I guess this is also the real world,"

"Nudge!"

"wait, now that's too confusing…what?"

"Yes. You can keep the armor and weaponry _if_ you pay attention and learn how to use them properly. I need you to pay attention, because you might not get this chance again before you are attacked on this level. And before you go thinking that can't happen, know this. Right now, out in what you called the 'real world' Nudge, a group of fifty people are surrounding your camp in a circle."

When Ajax dropped that particular bombshell, Max tightened considerably.

"Don't worry though, they are friendly. Those people are the Sigma heavy infantry division, one of Heaven's finest divisions of angels. There is nothing, be it man, beast or demon getting in that circle without one monster of a fight."

"I'd like to see them! What do they look like? Are they dressed in like, white robes and stuff?"

"Nudge! Fine, I'll ask them to stick around for a few minutes after you guys wake up, but seriously, we need to get this show on the road! This world experiences time at a different speed than the realm of the physical, and it's already about four thirty by your method of reckoning time."

"So, what are these rod things?"

"They will serve as your weapons. What would you have for a weapon?"

Max thought about it for a bit, and decided that while a samurai sword would be awesome, a smaller, more curved blade would be better.

While she thought it out, a sickle formed in her hand. Opening her eyes, she looked at the weapon in her hands. She slashed with it a few times, experimentally, then returned to a neutral position. Fang's rod morphed into a ninja's blade, also as black as his clothing.

Nudge had a light saber again, and Iggy was holding a chain-sword.

Gazzy had his M-16 pointed at the ground, and Angel had what looked like a cross between technology and a magic wand like you might see in those exaggerated cartoons with the massive star or other item at the tip.

Hers was a light steel grey, and had three concentric rings around the rod. The was a slight humming sound coming from it, then suddenly, an arc of electricity briefly connected the device with the ground.

"Why didn't that thunderclap hurt our ears?" Iggy wondered out loud. Despite being able to see in this realm, his hearing was still off the charts.

"Because of the nature of the weaponry. Now if there had been demons nearby, in the mental plain, that thunderclap would still be reverberating in their chests. Essentially, Angel, what you've picked is a cross between your own personal toaster, and a stun gun." Ajax looked over at MacGyver, who was standing in the firing position with his bow. Oddly, though Ajax had not yet touched on the topic of partial armor for a specific purpose, MacGyver's armor had created an arm guard for his forearm, to prevent string burn. A quiver was slung behind him, and an arrow was already fitted to the string. He released the tension in the bow, and the arrow flew straight and true for a distance of two hundred feet.

"Wow, that was a really long shot!" Gazzy said.

"Yeah, it would be, after all, this is angelic weaponry we're talking about here. It's about twenty times as strong as anything you've ever seen before." Ajax gestured to the arrow that was embedded in the ground. "You should call it back." he said.

"How? Do I just say 'come back to me, arrow' or something?"

The arrow slithered out of the hole it had created in going there, and then flew back towards MacGyver, where it dropped gently into the quiver.

"Yeah, pretty much."

Everyone else had watched with open mouths as it did so.

"As of now, I bind your weapons to you." Ajax intoned. Each weapon began to emit a white glow as Ajax continued speaking.

"These weapons will be your trusted friends in combat, refusing to harm your friends or yourselves."

The glow was intensifying, and the smaller Flock members were already cloaked entirely in the white light.

"They will refuse to commit destruction in the hands of another, and will return at your call."

At this point, the glow had swallowed nearly everyone in the whiteness.

"Bear them well, and may God be with you."

Nudge woke with a start. It was a moment before she remembered where she was. The fire was nearly out, and she looked towards the tree where Ajax was keeping watch. He wasn't there. After a few moments of searching, she found him, seemingly carrying on an animated conversation with thin air. The remaining members of the Flock began stirring, and in an incredible show of coordination, they crawled out of their sleeping accommodations as one. Gazzy and Iggy moved to deal with the fire, and Iggy noted that the can was just about out of gas. MacGyver was helping Fang disassemble the tent-like structure and roll up the sleeping bags while Max and Nudge went to prepare breakfast, or maybe more accurately, warm up the Powerbars. Just then, Nudge gasped.

"What is it, sweetie?" Max asked, not looking up from the bag.

"Look! They're all around, just like he said they were! Max, with those guys nearby, we wouldn't have to worry about anything coming after us!"

Max looked up, and momentarily froze at the sight of fifty soldiers, all armed, and wearing pure white clothing. Their golden swords seemed to swirl the light, making it look like the swords might have been made of water. Ajax strode up with one of the soldiers.

"Max, I'd like you to meet my good friend, Sigma Alpha. He's the commander of this battalion."

"Pleasure to meet you, ma'am." Sigma said, holding out his hand. Max shook it.

"Well, I'm glad to meet you too." Max said.

"I had asked if they could stick around, you know, visibly for a little bit, and my good buddy here said he'd go one further. He and his senior staff will be joining us for breakfast."

At that, Max went bright red. "We don't have anything beyond a backpack full of PowerBars." Max said.

"Oh, that's all right. It'll be our treat. Our battalion is meeting up with a supply train two weeks sooner than expected, so we've got plenty to spare."

"If you're sure…we eat a-"

Whatever Max was going to say was cut off by a massive unfortunate occurrence. About five seconds later, there was an epic fireball as Gazzy's fart touched the remains of the dying fire and ignited. He was thrown fifteen feet away from the fire, due to the sheer force of the fireball. He would have taken a fatal blow to the head from a tree if it weren't for Sigma moving quite a bit faster than Gazzy was moving. He caught the young bird-kid, and set him back on his feet.

"Are you alright?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just got caught off-guard there." Gazzy said. "Thanks for catching me." With that, he returned to the fire, were Iggy was also moving back to the fire.

"Are you aware," Sigma said, returning to where Max and Fang were now standing "that you have a live propane factory?"

"You mean The Gasman?" Max asked

"The who?"

"They all have somewhat…different names. The kid you saved from that tree? He's The Gasman."

"We learned to never put him in any position other than the very last in line. He's only gotten worse over the years."

Sigma's eyebrow twitched, but otherwise kept his face clear of any negative emotions related to such issues. After a few moments of awkward silence, two other senior officers joined them carrying baskets of food.

They spread a blanket out over the ground, and Sigma gave thanks for the food. The Flock dug in eagerly, and the senior staff of the Sigma battalion looked on in curiosity as the Flock packed away more food than anyone had ever done in their presence before. Max looked around the blanket, and realized that, for the moment at least, she was truly happy, despite the fact that she was a fugitive and a freak.

Nudge was in an animated discussion about fashion with a female lieutenant first class, while Ig and Gaz were busy picking the brains of the detonation specialist sitting across from them. Fang was rather quietly discussing stealth with the SpecOps leader, and Angel was trying to read Sigma's mind. Max smiled at the look on Angel's face, apparently entering the mind of an angel is harder than normal people. MacGyver was eating standing, since there wasn't enough room on the blanket, and discussing improvisation tactics with the second in command. Everyone was putting food away at a relatively quick pace. Ajax wasn't with the group, as he had already finished eating, and was busy putting the finishing touches on packing up camp.

A raptor was making some odd fly-bys, and normally, Max would have been in wonder, but the way it was flying, and the coloring made her suspicious. Ajax looked up at it, and his eyes narrowed. A moment later, a snarl of rage came over his face, and he picked up the twelve foot long branch that had been the center ridge of the tent last night, and threw it at the raptor. Sigma had looked up just in time to see a tree branch fly over his head, and moved to see Ajax a bit better.

"Dude, that was a good shot, but what was wrong?" he asked.

"That raptor was what was wrong. It wasn't organic, and it had cameras. It came from Itex." Ajax ground out. "I'd bust their heads for this, but I can't do that right now."

"Well, it sure looks like you got him. It, I mean." Sigma added quickly.

"Yeah…" Ajax zipped the backpack shut, and subspaced it. He looked around, taking in the camp. "I think that's just about it. Now, I just have to erase the fire, and we're able to get out of here with nearly no trace except for that shattered raptor camera." Ajax ripped out the gas line that he had buried last night, and tamped the dirt back into place. Within five minutes, the Flock finished up, and Sigma got up.

"Well dude, it's been a pleasure, but we've just gotten new orders, so…I guess I'll see ya around?"

Ajax smiled lopsidedly. "Yeah, I'll see ya around, old man."

"Who you callin' old, dude?" Sigma said, playfully punching Ajax in the arm.

Ajax grinned, but didn't comment. The Sigma battalion vanished a moment later, leaving the Flock alone again.

"That was so cool! I mean they were like real angels, and this one had this really cool sword, and-"

"Nudge, please. Thank you. Now, do any of you remember last night? Raise your hand if you do."

Everyone raised their hands. "Good, glad to know you were all paying attention. Now," Ajax reached up and pulled two felt bags out of subspace. "In these bags are your weapons and armor. Take one out, pass it around." He underhand lobbed one bag to Max, the other to Fang.

Max caught it with one hand, and looked at the insignia on the front. It showed a fierce looking warrior, bearing a bright blue shield. The rest of the drawing was black and white, leading Max to believe that the armor disks were inside. She was right. Pulling one out, she absently handed the bag to Iggy, and turned the disk over in her hand. It seemed to glow slightly, and, remembering last night, she placed it against her shirt, this time in a place where it would not sag awkwardly like it did before. After a moment, she allowed her hand to drop away from the disk, and it stayed in place on her shirt. She thought of the armor that had covered her last time she had such a device with her, and the armor activated, covering Max in an impervious layer of metal. Surprisingly, it didn't feel constricting, but almost like she had just been freed from something. It was lightweight, and flexible, yet hard enough to stop anything headed her way. It wasn't cold against her skin, but felt like a warm blanket that had just come out of the dryer at her mom's house. She had expected to loose the sense of touch in her hands, but when she caught the bag she saw coming at her, she realized that the armor somehow allowed for the sense of touch without sacrificing the protection it offered. She remembered that the weapon, when not active, would just be a metal rod, and wondered how she would keep it with her without holding it all the time. Looking at her waist, she noticed a loop of metal bending out from the armor to accept the weapon. She pulled the weapon out of the black felt bag, and it flashed on both ends for several seconds before the lights faded away, and the weapon was inert once again.

"What was that?" Max asked. Ajax had stepped over to retrieve the bags.

"What, the blinking? That was your weapon imprinting. Now, it will respond only to you."

"And why does the armor feel so light and free? Not that I'm complaining or anything…but it just seems a little weird."

"A simple question with a simple answer. That fine piece of armor that you are wearing was designed, forged and assembled in Heaven, by God's specifications. It's designed to be freeing. Now, we are going to learn to fight with these weapons, so lets get to it. Do you want to start with aerial combat, or terrestrial combat?"

"Uh, I think we could start in the air, I guess."

"Okay." Ajax responded cheerfully. "Up and away."

Most of the Flock jumped into the air as a matter of habit, but MacGyver, Fang, and Max stayed on the ground.

"You know, from the air, you'd be sitting ducks right now." Ajax said. "MacGyver, you're with me. Everyone else can just spar as you normally would." Ajax wound up, and flung himself into the sky. MacGyver followed with trepidation, and eventually was up at a high enough point to engage in combat.

"All right, rules of engagement: Three strikes, and you're out. You're goal is to get three on me before I can get three on you. Set your weapons and armor to 'practice mode', and we can begin."

"What does practice mode do?" MacGyver asked.

"Normally, I wouldn't be able to strike you because you are a friend, but with the equipment in practice mode, I can score hits on you. It won't hurt you, but your armor will note the hit, and when you get tagged, a light will flash on your HUD. Did I clear up that question?"

"Yeah."

Ajax rose to an altitude of about one hundred fifty feet, and circled as MacGyver worked his way up. "All right, Mac. Let's see how you do on the offensive at one-fifty." Ajax muttered to himself.

After a few more moments, MacGyver finally got up to where Ajax was waiting, and reached for his weapon. Ajax merely shifted in the air, waiting to see what MacGyver was going to do. He was so focused on MacGyver's flying, that he didn't notice the fact that the entire Flock was focused on watching him and MacGyver. MacGyver continued to climb until he was above Ajax, then made a shallow dive towards Ajax, weapon poised to strike. Because a bow would have been impractical, MacGyver had opted for a mace, figuring that the least he could do was just knock his enemies out. As MacGyver approached, the radar built into the HUD in Ajax' helmet alerted him to MacGyver's approach. Ajax inverted, and slid away to the right. MacGyver didn't show any sign of irritation, but doggedly pursued his target. Due to his inverted position, Ajax had noted the entire Flock watching. He opened a comm line.

"Since you all are just watching, how 'bout we shake this up a bit. Seven to one sparring. The first person to tag me gets an all expenses paid trip to…Disneyland for two!" Needless to say, this got everyone moving, and Ajax found that he might have made a minor mistake by saying that. The armor at his feet shifted, and a pair of rockets flared up, moving him out of the way of the Gasman's tackle maneuver.

"If you get tagged more than two times, you're out, and should either land or change your armor color to red." Ajax said, just to remind everyone.

After a moment of being chased by Gazzy, Ajax pulled his weapon from it's clasp, and the sword activated. Ajax turned in the air with a tight twist, and caught Gazzy's weapon on the flat of his blade. Gazzy grunted as his entire forward motion was reversed within the span of three seconds. He tumbled a bit before stabilizing, but in the process, he dropped his weapon. Gazzy reached out, as if to stop it from falling any further, and it reversed course, and flew back into his hand.

"That was cool!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah, you're all able to do that as long as it's your own weapon you're reaching for." Ajax said, spinning around in time to catch Nudge's light saber against the spine of his sword. This time, Nudge's momentum was too great for the thrusters in the suit, and Ajax shut down the engines, deactivating his blade at the same time. Ajax fell out of Nudge's range, and reignited the engines, reforming his blade at the same time. Twelve turbocharged seconds later, Ajax was high above the fight, and he leveled off, watching the others. As one, they began their ascent, but Max activated her warp drive ability, and showed up ahead of the Flock. As she was coming up, Ajax shifted to accommodate using two hands instead of one, and delivered a powerful stroke to Max's arm. The only way she even knew that she'd been hit was the fact that her heads up display had pinged, and only two hearts were blinking now. Ajax dropped, tagging Max again as he did so.

Aggravated by the fact that she had just taken two of her permitted three hits, Max chased Ajax down, passing MacGyver as they did so. Poor MacGyver had never stood a chance. As Ajax passed, three hits were delivered. One went to the back of the head, causing his helmet to ring like a bell. another strike on his ribcage, and an up slash against one of his legs, all within the span of two seconds.

"Oh, come on!" MacGyver said petulantly. He didn't truly want to fight in the sky, and had been hoping to land, but not like this.

Ajax went into fighter jet mode, not targeting anyone as Max continued to chase him. Her hyper speed was causing Ajax to think twice about going for anyone else, and it was all he could do to keep his feet out of her range. Ajax twisted sharply out of an inverted dive, and shot straight up on the force of his jets alone. Max followed, unwilling to let him go. As Ajax ascended, he pulled his sword again, and delivered two blows to Fang, the first in his stomach, the second over his spine. He didn't have time for a third, as Fang twisted away, and Max was still following him. Now, she was triple pissed, and Ajax realized that he had made a poor choice in not making sure she was done before going for Fang. He shut off his engines, and held his blade ready. A moment later, Max blasted into him at full force. He caught the blow admirably, but the force of the impact jarred his arm, causing him to drop his weapon. It changed back to it's inert form as it fell, so as to protect people from being sliced open. Grabbing his backup weapon, Ajax trapped Max's blade, and twisted. She held on, and changed her blade, freeing it.

"Excellent maneuver!" Ajax said. He was glad that she had caught the idea of how flexible her weapon could be, despite that fact that this meant he stood less chance of winning. A moment later, she tagged him with her weapon, squarely where his jaw would have been if it weren't for the helmet protecting him. Ajax reached for his still falling weapon, causing it to return to him, but Max got in another strike before it was back in his hand.

Ajax squirmed in the air, attempting to get away before she could get him again. Max followed, but Ajax straightened out, and flew straight up, making a beeline for space.

As the altimeter wound up, the air became thinner, and they began moving faster as the resistance and gravity dropped. Ajax had gotten out in front of Max, with a lead of about two hundred feet, and the suit around his feet began to shift, a boxy looking object pushing out from either side of his feet. The newly formed impulse engines began to glow, and Ajax shot forward at a greater speed. Max realized that she was having a hard time breathing, and wondered if her armor was capable of going into space. The suit shifted near her shoulders, ovals forming with depressions in them. Two miniature deflector arrays powered up, and then something shifted on her back, and breathing became easier again.

_Max:_ You mean to tell me that you wrote eight pages, and just stopped, just like that?

_HW:_ *looking left and right* Um…yup!

_Max:_ Unbelievable. *starts to pace* I mean, how can you write eight freaking pages, and just stop like that?

_HW:_ Hey, in my defense, I'll make this a two part chapter. How did you like breakfast with the Sigma battalion?

_Max:_ Breakfast was good. I liked it.

_HW:_ So you should be thankful for my spur-of-the-moment ideas. As the writer in control of this story, I am the one who set that little scene up. Still wanna be pissed at me?

_Max:_ I concede that you MIGHT have a point.

_HW: _Good. Now, next Sunday, I'll update again, perhaps a double header if I write it right. Heh, did you see what I did there?

_Max:_ *shakes head disbelievingly* You're pathetic.

_HW:_ Hey, you want me to just stop writing? Life support doesn't go forever, even in that armor that you're wearing.

_Max:_ True. I tell ya what. I'll punch you if you decide to stop writing, and I won't if you don't stop until this is done.

_HW: _Note to self: Write Max out of the story after an extremely heartbreakingly painful death.

_Max:_ Backing down now.

_HW: _Note to self: Belay last note to self.

All right Max, it's been fun verbally sparing with you, but I have answer to readers to do, so don't hold against me what I'm about to do. *throws Max out of an open window like a sack of potatoes*

_Max:_ I can fly you know!

_HW:_ Yeah, I know…oh CRAP! *quickly closes the window*

_Max: _Darn!

Answers to Readers!

_NinthFeather: I keep making you loose the GAME because it's far too much fun not to. By the way, I lost the GAME! Sorry for not including the villain in the first half of this chapter, but I'll try harder next time!_

_The Layman: It is shallow to pin Mac's MacGyver-ness to one thing. *attempts to look genuinely offended*_

_The link was for Deviantart, but as FFN saw fit to erase most of it, I will try again here. I've never seen Angels and Demons so…you should be intrigued._

_The link is as follows, but for it to work, you will have to remove the spaces. I'm sorry for the confusion this has caused. _

_http:/ ncc-1701-j. deviant art .com / d388u6u_


	7. Chapter 7 second half

_A/N: Attention all readers! I made another chapter for you all to review! And…I lost The Game._

As Ajax began to pull further and further away, Max slowed so that the rest of the Flock could catch up. Ajax noticed on his sensors that Max and Co were slowing to standard orbit, and he found a relatively empty section in which to hide. At his mental instructions, the armor changed, shifting to look like a satellite. The 'satellite' was in geo-synchronous orbit over a section that was being studied in great detail, but the researchers had been depending on a satellite fly-over, and they only got one every forty minutes because of the speed of the satellites. Such a fly-over lasted for only forty seconds of good, usable data, the rest being too skewed to use properly. Due to the difficulty of getting good data, the researchers were surprised when truly excellent data began coming in, apparently from a geo-synchronous satellite they had sent. The only problem was that they hadn't had enough money to set up a geo-synchronous satellite, and knew from Square One that they would have to make due with government satellites for a few seconds each pass. Even that was costing them, because the government was loaning their satellites out to researchers to help deal with the national debt. This satellite wasn't costing them anything, and they were getting all the good data they could handle. They were nearly finished when a picture came of Ajax's face, encased in his helmet. There was a worried expression on his face, and then the link vanished.

"At least we got almost all the data we needed." One of the researchers said.

"Yeah, another fifteen seconds, and we'd have been finished. Well, buy one more pass, we need to finish the data gathering stage."

Ajax had seen Max coming around the curve of the Earth, and knew that she knew he was the satellite. He fired out of orbit, and made for the moon, moving just slightly slower than the speed of light. As he passed over the border of light on the moon, he noted several dark shapes that weren't part of the moon's normal surface. A sensor sweep revealed that the objects were not leftovers from various moon missions, but something far more sinister.

"Max, sparring is off. I have eyes on no less that six Shite-class demons. Most of them are level one, but there is a level two in there as well. Battle up!"

Each member of the Flock shifted positions as they prepared for the fight.

The demons saw that they had been seen, and as one, they prepared their foul blades for the deed they were about to commit.

Ajax drew his weapon, forming the golden sword favored by many angels of Heaven, and the demons exchanged glances. An angel in the battle changed the whole equation. As one, they charged, screaming foul epithets that were at least as evil as they were. Ajax pulled his second weapon, and laid it flat against his arm.

The weapon spread, latching onto his arm, and shifting to become a cannon of sorts, which began to whine with a charge-up of power moments after it stopped shifting. While the demons were approaching, the Flock landed behind the demons. Three of them turned around, and charged towards the Flock, who merely stood their ground, waiting for the demons to approach. MacGyver, who had followed the Flock, stepped out from behind the group, bow raised with an arrow fitted to the string. The three Shites attacking the Flock barely had time to register what was happening before MacGyver's arrow impacted the chest of the foremost demon. It howled in agony, it's shoulder completely immobilized by MacGyver's arrow. The gleaming golden shaft seemed to pulse with light, causing the demon even more pain.

A moment after MacGyver had fired his arrow, Angel's Tesla mace spoke up, and the second demon, who had been in the middle, turned into a pile of ash. The ashes reformed briefly, and then the ashes spiraled into a black hole that opened up seemingly out of nowhere, a hideous screaming accompanying the process.

Gazzy's M-16 belched fire, and the third demon had a new ventilation system installed. Somehow, even though the weapon functioned perfectly in space, the recoil was enough to launch The Gasman off of the surface of the Moon.

Fang installed his blade in the first demon's stomach just as Max slashed off it's head. The two pulled back at the same time, breathing a little heavily.

Ajax had been immobilized by some strange force that the demons had used, and the three that had been attacking him turned towards the Flock.

Before the Flock had an opportunity to attack again, however, the demon in the lead spoke up.

"Do not attack us!" it cried.

Max paused, still in the ready position. "Why?" She demanded.

"Because we are not your enemy. The armor that you wear distorts your view of us, making us look like hideous monsters. We have temporarily placed a viable atmosphere in this area, so that you can remove your armor without fear of dying."

Sure enough, the HUD showed that there was a viable atmosphere, and that it was currently safe to remove the armor. It also showed the demons as they were.

Max turned to the rest of the Flock. "Should we believe him? We've been lied to before, but Ajax hasn't betrayed our trust yet."

"We should at least hear them out." Fang reasoned.

Max pursed her lips. "Fine, we hear them out, and reserve judgment until they finish."

The Flock turned back to the demons, who were also talking among themselves. The Flock dispensed with their helmets, and found that the demons had spoken the truth. The air was good, for now at least. With their helmets out of the way, the demons were now able to disguise themselves to make the Flock think that they weren't demons after all.

Weapons were put away, and the two forces approached each other, though they remained a good fifteen feet apart, due to Max's trust issues.

"How can you prove that you're actually the good guys, and Ajax is one of the bad guys?" Max demanded.

"Very simple. Has he even once promised that you will never again be captured by twisted scientists who want to experiment on you and dissect you?" the leader asked.

"Well,…no." Max admitted slowly. "But that doesn't mean anything!" She quickly added.

"True, but we can promise that. There are more worlds than this one. There are worlds where you would be worshiped as the truly superior beings that you are. Your every wish would be taken care of; you would want for nothing." The demon said smoothly. If Max had ever watched _Star Trek_, she would have been reminded of the Ferengi.

As it was, the offer sounded far too good to be true.

"How about you show us this, and if it really is as good as it sounds, then we'll take you up on your offer. If not…well, we'll know that you aren't truly who you say you are." Max said, stalling for time. Behind the demons, Ajax was slowly working his way out of the amber that the demons had encased him in.

"_Father, will you lend me a hand? I cannot escape this prison on my own."_ No sooner had he directed the prayer Heavenward than the amber prism that he was trapped in shattered, allowing Ajax to step out of his crystalline prison.

"Nice try" he growled "But I have the power of the Trinity behind my every action."

At the mention of the Trinity, the demons howled, and their disguise slipped, allowing the Flock to see them for what they were. Now there was not even the shadow of a doubt that the demons were anything but demons. Max and the rest of the Flock put their helmets back on just before the atmosphere vanished, the force that had been holding it now gone. Angel's Tesla mace spoke again, and the lead demon was vaporized on impact. The other two howled, the force of the lightning shot had been very painful to them even with the lack of atmosphere. MacGyver fired three in a single shot, each arrow striking one of the subordinates. Ajax's cannon had been charging up for some time, and he fired, terminating the final demon. Just before he had fired though, the demon had brought his foul weapon down across Max's left arm, leaving several shards of the blade embedded in her arm. Although the demons had been defeated, the poison was beginning to spread. Ajax shifted his blade, and it changed from a liquid golden color to a pure white. The glowing blade smashed into Max's arm where the demon had struck her. A wave of pure white shot down her arm, removing all traces of the poison, and repairing her armor.

If Ajax had been able to see Fang's face, he would have noticed that Fang had a nearly murderous look on his face. Nobody attacked his girlfriend and got away with it!

His weapon shifted in response to his emotions, and Fang shifted to better strike.

"Max. Are you better now?" Ajax said, concern flowing from his words.

"Yeah, I'm fine now. What was that stuff?" She said. Fang quietly stood down at her statement.

"It was particles of the weapon that the demon was using. Their blades are designed to shatter on impact with their victims, spreading their insidious poison through the bloodstream. If left unchecked, the poison would have corrupted you, forcing you to do things you might not ordinarily do. You would have eventually sworn your soul to the evil one if it had gone long enough."

Max shuddered. "They said something about other worlds. What did they mean?" Nudge asked. For once, she didn't keep rambling.

"Tell me this. Who of you thinks that Earth is the only planet in the universe capable of sustaining life?" A few hands went up in response to Ajax's question.

"Star Trek was a bit fanciful, but there are other species in the universe, even within the Milky Way galaxy. Most haven't even bothered to look at Earth because there's no faster than light technology here. Your species can't even go to Mars yet."

"Yeah, wait, what do you mean 'your species'?" Max demanded.

"I'm not human. Did you think I was just because I was here? Look, I had said that **most** species hadn't even bothered to look at Earth. There are a few who went so far as to put people on the ground. Not all of the researchers at the School are human. I can confirm that there were at least three off-world beings among the whitecoats. They were interested in the psychological development of the experiments. They've been there for twenty years, and their home-world is about twenty years away at the speed of light. They have technology that allows them to move at up to four times the speed of light…my people refer to it as warp four. Now, if we're done here…can we go?" Ajax pleaded.

"Sure."

"Great. I don't know about you, but I won't find the Moon to be interesting until about 2080, when they open the first interplanetary mall." Ajax said, relief seeping into his voice. A thought occurred to him a split second later. "Computer, mute com signal Nudge." The computer bleeped in response, and Nudge's voice, only just starting, faded away.

The return to Earth was uneventful, and they landed in New York City to obtain more supplies before continuing on.

"Who's hungry?" Ajax asked. They were outside the city so as to not attract much attention from the landings.

"Did you just ask?" Iggy responded. "Of course we're hungry. We're bird-kids."

"True." Max said. "But I think he asked because of the breakfast we had. I noticed that I wasn't hungry until about five minutes ago. Anybody else notice that?" Most of the Flock responded with an affirmative of some sort or another. A moment later, Max narrowed her eyes. "Just what was in that bread we were eating this morning anyway, Ajax?" Her tone was accusing, and while the rest of the Flock moved to a position behind Max, Ajax flinched.

Ajax sighed then, "That's the stuff that _angels_ eat, Max. You think you've got a blazingly fast metabolism? You're talking about a Mustang versus a racecar! I think that all things considered…it fell out about right. Look at it another way. You saw -and battled- demons today. Do you honestly think that angels would poison you?"

"I'm not sure what to think anymore." Max said quietly. Her voice held a dangerous edge beneath the surface.

"Look!" Ajax said. "I'm not your enemy. I have assisted where I was permitted -every step of the way! Now, I understand that with that battle today, lines are blurred. I get that. Angels, demons, Heaven, hell, God, the devil…"Ajax sighed in frustration. "You've been introduced to a whole new level of warfare, far too quickly, with too little information, and I'm sorry for that. I've done the best that I can with what I have permission to do, but there's a learning curve for mortals like you!" Pain showed through his voice, Max's questioning had cut deeper than he realized.

Convinced, Max stepped forward to look him straight in the eye. "I believe you. Living on your own, dumpster-diving and whatnot, one gets to be a pretty good judge of character, or dead. Sometimes even both, in the cases of unluckier people. After what has happened today, I _had_ to question you. There was no choice. For the safety of my family, I had to make sure you were who you said you were, I can't take chances here. Now, did you say something about food?"

Ajax blinked, thrown slightly by the abrupt change in course. "Yeah."

The group walked in silence through the tiny wooded section the had landed behind, walking out into a park on the edge of the city.

"Ladies and gentlemen! I present to you…New York City! The Big Apple! At night, we can even call it the Rotten Apple!" Ajax finished his grandiose statement, and let his arm drop to his side. "Okay, you're right, lame. Uh, how about food?" Cheering ensued. "Right."

_HW: Well, that seems like a good place to stop._

_Max: But I'm hungry! That angel-bread-stuff that we had was hours ago! And we were active too!_

_HW: Wow…!_

_Max: Don't even GO there! *slaps Hideout Writer* I meant that we were busy fighting and sparring and flying…that was a lot of activity. You, on the other wing, you were just sitting there, moving your fingers a little bit._

_HW: And your point?_

_Max: Nevermind. I can't deal with your inability to care. Actually, I can, but you'd kill me. It's a choice of survival._

_HW: I'm not even sure how you're standing here in my living room, mouthing off to me. You're just some character from some book from some series written by some guy who managed to get lucky and get to New York Times Bestseller status. *Maximum Ride slowly starts to disappear* Proving my point exactly. It is my imagination alone that keeps you alive here, Max._

_Max: Yeah, but you need me. If you kill off me and the rest of the Flock, that leaves that eighties weirdo, and Ajax._

_MacGyver: I object! Just because my fashion sense got stuck in the eighties because that's where I come from doesn't mean you need to insult me!_

_Ajax: Besides all that, I object to being brought into an argument that doesn't concern me. Not mentioning the fact that I am deeply disappointed by your willingness to fight over senseless things. You should be ashamed of yourself, Max._

_HW, Max, Mac: SHUT. UP._

_HW: Well, as happy as I am that we all agree, I need to close this chapter. So…with that in mind, GET OUT OF MY LIVING ROOM, GET BACK INTO YOUR PLACES IN THE STORY, AND LET ME BE!_

_Max, Mac: Okay…going. *door closes behind them*_

_HW: What are you still doing here, Ajax?_

_Ajax: I'm not Ajax._

_HW: Well, the only person I know of who would be stupid enough to imitate Ajax would be…you're Seventh Symphony!_

_7__th__: Well, I don't want to be forgotten._

_HW: Don't worry, you aren't. Those six Shite-class demons that you sent is quite enough reminder of your presence in this story. Go. Now. Or I'll give you to Max, and she can carve you up like a chuck roast because I'll giver her Q-like powers._

_7__th__: I have things to do._

_HW: Intelligent demon._

_7__th__: *bamf* *curling smoke wisps*_

_HW: Answers to readers, anyone?_

_Huffleclawmage: Well, if you were to stop loosing The Game (I lost The Game!), then you wouldn't have this problem._

_The Layman: So…you hit them in the front instead of in the back? Sounds good enough to me!_

_NinthFeather: I know that The Game thing isn't fair. (I lost The Game. Again.) But I keep doing it anyway, because I like it. I can't bring out the villain just yet…there's still some stuff to do, but the Shites were a reminder of the war they are in._

_Well, seeing how there are no more reviews on the chapter, I shall be forced to assume that there are no more answers. Let me check the answers bin…yup, I'm fresh out of answers. Read, review, I'll post again on Sunday, preferably before 8:00 AM, but definitely before noon. (Local Time) Now, pardon me while I go to the hardware store for more answers._


	8. Chapter 8

_And now the continuation of Maximum MacGyver._

"So, you're an angel, right?" Nudge asked. The entire Flock was sitting in a restaurant, inhaling anything not bolted to the floor.

"Yeah, what about it?" Ajax asked, fearing the response.

"What's Heaven like? Do they have fashion? Is it like the stereotype shows it? Do they have weather in Heaven? How do people travel? Do they have wings? If we were to go ther-mmmmmmph!" Iggy's well placed hand shut off the word flow from Nudge.

Ajax sighed. He really should have seen this coming, after all, nearly everyone in the world wonders what happens after death. "I will answer your questions, in the order asked, provided you don't interrupt. Start talking, and I'll stop. I've made myself clear, yes?" a hint of a smile showed through his words.

Nudge nodded, and Iggy released his death lock on Nudge's mouth.

"Okay. First question, what's Heaven like? I'm not completely sure how to answer that question to any degree of satisfaction, so I'm going to take the easy way out, and say that you would like it there. It's peaceful, serene even. As for the question of fashion, there are fashion designers in Heaven, but I never truly took note, seeing as how their version of fashion was different from mine. You'd probably identify with them more than I would. Heaven is nothing like the stereotype, and yet in some ways, it is. The weather is sunny and mild. Cool enough to not need air-conditioning, but warm enough that you could ride a motorcycle down the freeway without too much wind chill. There's usually a slight breeze, just enough to get the wind chimes going. As for travel…there are so many different ways, it's not even funny. When you've got eternity to do stuff in…you could walk, run, take a train, teleport…it's almost a non issue. Some people have wings, others don't see the beauty in them, and don't bother with it. I've got wings, and never had to give them up. Now, I need to make a couple calls, and use the bathroom. Don't get into trouble while I'm away, cap-e-chay? Good." As Ajax stepped away from the table, Gazzy started a new discussion .

Ajax walked over to the back corner of the room, noticing that whoever it was that had beckoned him over had chosen the darkest corner to sit in.

"You may sit, if you wish." the person stated quietly.

"What do you want with me?" Ajax asked, blunt.

"Quick to the point, I like that." the stranger said approvingly. "I'm in trouble."

"There are a lot of people in trouble in this world. Why should I care about your trouble?" Ajax queried. "I've got troubles of my own to deal with."

"That may be." came the rejoinder. "But are you someone who makes a job of protecting people from powerful criminals? Because I do that, and there was a job I took recently that ended poorly. The bad guy got me before we could get out of his lair and put him behind bars. Our mission was to get the data and bring it to the court for his trial. Now…now I'm stuck in trouble. I'm sitting on a bomb just big enough to kill me without being large enough to take out the building. My friend has the data, but I bet the bad guy has bargained for the data in exchange for my life. He'll probably go back on his deal, and kill me anyway. I was wondering if you know a way out of this?" The shadowy figure stopped speaking, and heaved a sigh. "I should have just turned the job down, but I felt it was my duty to take it."

Ajax heaved a sigh that spoke of just a trace of annoyance. "There will be conditions for this, but yes, I can help."

"Name your conditions. If they are within reason, I'll take it."

"Reason in this case is nearly a moot point. Nobody learns about me, you breath a word of this to no-one. Don't come looking for me. I will not be joining your team, and I'm leaving as soon as this bomb is diffused. Am I crystal clear?" Ajax's voice was hard now, to make sure the stranger got the point.

"Yeah, clear enough." the stranger said. He extended a hand. "By the way, I'm Christopher Chance."

Ajax shook the proffered hand. "More or less pleased to meet you. I'm Ajax."

"Not a common name." Chance noted.

"True enough, but neither is Chance a common name."

"It's an inherited name. I received that name when I killed my teacher."

"Do tell." Ajax said. "I need a story to listen to while I make this bomb not blow up."

"Christopher Chance was the name of a great hitman, four generations back. He abducted someone, and trained them in the art of the hit, and his student took the name when he graduated. The student kidnapped someone, and forced that person through the same training he had endured, and this third person took the Chance name. He took in homeless kids while they were really young, and trained them. I was one of those kids. After two hits, I realized that this wasn't right, and I got out of the business. Problem is, you're not allowed to up and leave a business like that. I was pursued by the old man. Age had not affected his aim, nor his skills. With my youth though, I was able to overcome him, and I killed him to prevent this from continuing. After that, I determined I should help people with powerful enemies rather than siding with the powerful enemies. If the person is on the run from someone not in the legal side of life, I help, simple as that."

"Simple as that, eh? You sure about that?"

"Well, we need information, and we do tend to do things my way most of the time, but I do try to do the right thing."

"Right…tell me something. Do you have any common sense that tells you to avoid the seriously bad dudes that have miniature armies at their beck and call?"

"Not really." came the easy answer.

"Didn't think so." There was a click, then a grunt as a major component of the bomb fell out of the casing. "That ought to do it." Ajax said, sliding out from underneath the seat. He was clutching a rectangular case in his left hand. "I'll dispose of this. The bomb is completely harmless at this point. You're free to go."

"Thanks." Chance said, sliding off of the seat. There was a click, and a beep, but nothing more. "Did you disarm the bomb correctly?" he asked.

"No, I just removed the explosive package from the system."

"Oh. Well, I'd better be going." Chance held out his hand. "I'd say I'll see you around, but I doubt I'll see you again."

Ajax shook the proffered hand. "Yeah…I've got to get going as well. Good luck with your business." He turned and left, leaving Chance to wonder about what the kid did for a living.

Rejoining the Flock, Ajax sat down and made eye contact with the Gasman. "Yo, gotcha something." Ajax said.

Gazzy looked up from his almost finished meal. "What is it?"

Ajax held up the black rectangle. "Something not mentioned in public." he handed the box over to Gazzy with a grin. "But I bet you already know what to do with it."

Max shot Ajax a look, and Ajax grinned back.

"Why did you give him that? He doesn't need any encouragement." Max said. "You know what? Outside. Now."

Max's face and tone indicated to Ajax that she meant business, and his grin faltered slightly. With an audible gulp, he made his way out of the door.

"You shouldn't be just giving him stuff like that! One day, it's going to backfire, and kill one of us, maybe even himself, and I just don't want to loose anybody. Do you understand?" Max hissed.

"Perfectly." Ajax said. Despite his experience and superior tactics, he realized that he was very afraid of Max right now.

"Good." Max's faux-sweet voice set Ajax on edge just a bit more, and he decided that he wasn't going to openly just _hand_ Gazzy explosives. Covertly on the other hand…

He followed Max back inside, where she gave the 'round-up' signal. After subspacing a pair of hamburgers for later, Ajax assisted with the clean-up process, and the Flock walked out of the restaurant a minute later. As they were leaving, Ajax noticed Chance leaving with a heavyset, dark-skinned man. The dude looked ticked about something, but was keeping quiet about it. Soon the Flock was out of range of the city, and the up and away order was given. Ajax kept his eyes peeled for good landing sites, but said nothing, lost deep in thought.

_Max: Short chapter. What's wrong this time?_

_HW: Bug off. I had a lot to do this week._

_Max: You had a whole week, and you got two pages? Seriously?_

_HW: Yes, seriously, now BUG OFF!_

_Max: You didn't even let us set up camp and go to bed for the night._

_HW: If you don't shut up right now, I'll start writing members of your Flock out of the story, heartbreakingly at that._

_Max: Backing down…_

_HW: There's a window, throw yourself out of it._

_Max:…probably a good idea…bye!_

_Chance: What am I doing here?_

_HW: No clue. Go._

_Chance: Okay._

_HW: To you people out there reading this thing…Review! If you can guess what TV show Chance is from, you win fifty points and the dark side will furnish you with some cookies._

_And now…_

_Answers to Readers:_

_The Layman, I love Star Trek (TNG and VOY) and you lost THE GAME. So did anyone else reading this. HA! Oh, and MacGyver is busy duct-taping all my plumbing._

_NinthFeather, glad you liked it, and sorry I couldn't come up with more this time around. I'll try harder next time, I swear!_


	9. Chapter 9

_Read, review, make me happy. It's something of a cycle I think. Reviews make me happy, and happiness results in longer chapters. With that said, read this chapter and review it so I can make more chapters for you peoplez!_

"So what did you do before you went to the School?" Max asked. It had been quiet for the past two days, and she felt like learning more about the person who had joined the Flock at the insistence of The Voice.

"Well I worked for a company called the Phoenix Foundation. Yes, we were affiliated with the government, but our mission was to help people. My disappearing at the School has probably caused alarm at the Foundation, and they are probably already moving to close down the entire system." MacGyver replied.

"Yeah, that'll be easy." Max said, sarcasm evident in her voice. "Itex controls about half of the world. You name the pie, they probably have their hands in it." A moment after her declaration, her shoulders slumped. "We don't truly stand a chance against them, but we have to fight, if only to keep them from expanding any further than they already have."

"**Snap out of it, Maximum."** the Voice snapped.

"**Voice, how nice to hear you again."** Max returned sarcastically.

"**Now is no time for games, Maximum. You WILL fight Itexicon, and you WILL win. The fate of your world rests on your success or failure."**

"**Do you have any **_**new**_** information, or are you just here to mouth off to me some more because that's all you can do?"**Max thought, angered. A moment later, she clutched her head in agony as an unseen railroad spike was shoved into her head.

"**I can do far more than just 'mouth off' as you put it."**The Voice said sternly.

On the outside world, everyone was looking at Max in concern as her eyes rolled up in her head. Angel tried to get closer to Max, but Ajax warned her away.

"She's in contact with The Creator, and I'm not sure but what that might be lethal to anyone who touches her while she's in that trance. She'll be fine." He said. After a moment or two, he turned back to the fire he was working on. There was a muffled pop, and several sparks flew out of the fire, causing Ajax to back up rather swiftly before colliding with a tree.

While Ajax dealt with the humiliation of backing into a tree at high speed, Max continued her discussion with the Voice.

"**You have my attention, fully and completely. Knowing that you never come calling without a reason, what do you want? What wisdom do you have to impart this time before you get out of my head?"** She could have continued with her mental tirade, but chose to wait for a moment, giving the Voice some time to respond.

"**You have a strong will Maximum…when all else fails, that will ensure your success where others fail…you should go to Texas, you will meet a good friend there."** The Voice left, taking the railroad spike with it.

"Pack it up, guys! Next stop Texas!" Max cried, throwing her gear together.

Her words hit the Flock like an electric shock, and after a moment of stunned silence, the various members of the Flock began throwing things together, erasing the camp as they did so. Moments later, they took to the skies, headed for the nearest town to get supplies before flying west once more.

Landing behind a billboard, the Flock folded in their wings, and put on their jackets in preparation for being near normal people. If all went well, they would be undetected. Finding an abandoned warehouse, they dropped their stuff, leaving the Gasman to guard it. He was still playing with the rectangular bomb casing that Ajax had given him in the restaurant. Max shot a disapproving glance towards Ajax, but didn't comment about it.

"Here's the plan. We get supplies, we meet up here in thirty minutes. I'm spelling it out because you two," she motioned towards MacGyver and Ajax. "Don't already know the drill. Now get going, and don't get caught!" The group split up, going in groups of two except for Ajax, who was on his own, dealing with business of a different nature. Thirty minutes later, Ajax heard the Flock regrouping, and soundlessly dropped out of the rafters.

"We should armor up." He said flatly. "Reports indicate that there may or may not be some truly nasty demons in our path."

"May or may not?" Max scoffed. "That's like saying Itex may or may not decide to chase us."

"That's not what I meant. I know there are demons ahead of us, I just don't know how powerful they are. Your enemy, Seventh Symphony, is the seventh strongest demon in Hell. Oh, and she wants to take you."

The conversation was cut short by a gasp from Nudge.

"What is it, sweetie?" Max asked, hurrying over.

"I accidentally dropped my armor disk. It fell down that grate." Nudge pointed at the drainage grate nearby.

While Max and Nudge had been talking, MacGyver had stepped over to Ajax. "What is that disk made of?" he asked.

"When inert like that? Pig Iron. It was made like that for that good solid feel." Ajax responded, intrigued. "Why?"

"Oh, I just think I can get it back." MacGyver said, reaching for his weapon. It formed into an five foot long metal bar, which MacGyver proceeded to bash against the nearby light pole.

"What are you doing?" Max hissed. "Somebody's going to come looking if you keep that up!"

"I'm magnetizing the pole." MacGyver said, ringing the light post again. "A few more hits, and I should be able to get it."

He bashed the light pole again and again, and one more time just to make sure. After he finished beating the light pole, he reached the pole down through the slats of the grate, looking for the disk. A moment later, he found it, and the newly magnetized pole clanked as the disk was secured to it by the force of magnetism. MacGyver carefully drew the pole up, bringing the disk with it. As soon as the disk was close enough, Nudge got down on the grate, and carefully maneuvered the disk so that the edge of it was clinging to the pole instead of the side. MacGyver continued slowly drawing out the pole, and then the disk was clear of the grate. Nudge grabbed it as soon as it was clear, and stood up, moving away from the offending grate as she did so. MacGyver reversed the position of the pole in his hands, and whacked the light pole a few times so as to de-magnetize it.

"Thank you for getting my armor disk out for me!" Nudge said. "That would have been really dangerous if I hadn't had that, and I might have had to be left behind, or maybe I'd have been ki-mmmmhhmmm!" The Nudge Channel began experiencing broadcasting issues, due to the hand of Iggy that had descended over her mouth.

"Thank you, Iggy." Max said, relieved. "Armor up and away!"

Despite the comfort that the armor presented, Max was still wary of having a helmet on unless circumstances demanded it. Silence prevailed over the group for a few hours before Nudge broke the silence.

"Maaaaaaaaaaaaaax." She wailed, trying to get Max's attention.

"Whoa, I liked my name so much better when it stayed as just one syllable." Max muttered to Fang.

Fang's lips twitched in response, and Max turned back slightly to see what Nudge needed.

"Max, I'm hungry, and so are Angel and Gazzy and Total." Nudge continued, still in the whiny pitch she had used to get Max's attention in the first place. If it hadn't been for the Bambi eyes, Max might have gone on for another half hour before beginning to consider possible landing sites.

"Fine, we'll land in the next town with a golden arches." Max said, beaten. To Fang she continued. "I hate it when she uses the Bambi eyes on me."

Fang grunted, the equivalent of an eloquent speech on Nudge's (probably) illegal use of the Bambi eyes.

Max adjusted her flight pattern to drift over towards Ajax.

Within the metal carapace covering his head, an alarm sounded.

"PROXEMITY ALERT. SIGNAL DENTFIED AS MAXIMUM RIDE."

The thundering music flooding the inside of Ajax's helmet was turned off, and the helmet vanished.

"Yes?" Ajax asked, curious.

"We're going to the nearest Golden Arches." Ma stated. "Nudge is hungry, and she used the Bambi eyes on me." Max sounded disgusted, but Ajax recognized the love that Max had for the members of her Flock.

"Okay." The helmet formed around his head again before dropping back to the neckline. "The nearest Mickey D's is approximately three-point-five miles from this location, altitude not factored. Location is on bearing two-seven-zero, mark three-two-zero. Estimated time to target, five minutes at present speed. At top speed, estimated time to target is thirty seconds. The location is question is a double drive through, with a modernized eat-in area, featuring free wi-fi. The drive through is open twenty four hours, and the building is situated near a major highway. Caution is advisable to the chicken wishing to cross the road. That is all the information I could find at this time on this McDonald's location." Ajax finished his analytical description of the nearest fast food restaurant, and Max rolled her eyes at his tone and mannerism.

"Yeah, I don't suppose you could have said it any more monotonously?" Max asked.

"Oh, I probably could have, but…I didn't feel like it." Ajax responded lightly.

"…right…I think I'll just leave that one where it is." Max said, slightly baffled.

"Probably a good idea. I've been known to be rather random, especially if I'm hungry." Ajax said, a touch of a smile dancing in his eyes.

"Whatever." Max said, uncaring. She drifted back towards Fang.

At the time Ajax had indicated, the building came into view, and the Avian Americans began descending. Ajax was the last of the group to descend, performing a final sweep to ensure there weren't any hostiles waiting for them in the air or on the ground.

As the Flock walked the short distance from the landing site to McDonald's, Max went over the 'story'.

"So, Fang and I are you guy's mom and dad, MacGyver here is your granddad, and Ajax is a friend of the family, so he has the honorary tile of uncle. Everyone got that?"

A chorus of affirmative responses greeted her question, and the group walked into the parking lot. The person behind the counter was obviously a brand-new employee, and it was clear that she didn't think the Flock could eat all they had ordered, but took the card and swiped it. After the Flock sat down with their food and drink, Ajax gave thanks for the food, and they began to eat.

_Max: Well, that was fast. You don't typically hammer out a chapter this decent in such a short amount of time._

_HW: What can I say? I'm just good that way._

_Max: Oh, yeah right._

_HW: Hey, I think I did right by you in this chapter. Your Flock is safe (for the moment) you all have food, and you all seem to be content. That's not mentioning the fact that I ended your limbo about two and a half days early._

_Max: So what? JP takes longer, but he writes better. I should have stuck with him instead of allowing you to just bring in this weirdo from the eighties-_

_MacGyver: Hey, that's not polite!_

_Max: And force me to keep him around. I wish I coulda dumped the guy the same day I saw him!_

_HW: No, you don't wish that, you're just saying it because you don't like me._

_Max: MacGyver, I don't really mean what I said about wishing you weren't here, I just don't like Hideout Writer here very much._

_HW: Told you. Look at it this way, MacGyver can be your liaison to the Phoenix Foundation, is going to help you in your smaller picture mission, and has already helped you with said mission. _

_Max: What do you mean he's already helped?_

_HW: Nudge's armor disk?_

_Max: Oh yeah, that._

_MacGyver: *sarcastic* oh yeah, _that_. Please._

_Max: Getting better with the sarcasm, but you still need to work on it if you are ever going to get to the point where you can kill flies with it._

_MacGyver: I don't use sarcasm as a weapon._

_Max: Shame. It's really good for cutting things._

_HW: Sorry, but I've gotta wrap this up. *chucks Max out the window*_

_MacGyver: What'd you do that for?_

_HW: Same reason I'm about to do it again. *chucks MacGyver out the window* What do you eat, Mac? Bricks? *closes window*_

_Ajax: Well, you seem to be getting some serious practice with that whole chucking bird-kids-out-of-windows routine._

_HW: To put like Teal'c does, 'Indeed' _

_Ajax: yeah…about that. It was only funny when he did that._

_HW: Since you want to be that way…*throws Ajax out of the closed window* …I'm gonna need to duct tap that. Review!_

_Answers to loyal readers:_

_NintheFeather: Christopher Chance will in no way figure into the plot beyond that single chapter. (Aside from the explosive package that Gazzy now has) I'm glad you liked how I described Heaven, but to be honest, it might not be in any way accurate. I went with what I personally thought, and I have no prior experience to be able to tell you exactly what it's like up there. The dark side didn't put me in charge of your cookies, Chuck Norris did. I would have protested, except for the fact that I witnessed something scary. Not long ago, Chuck Norris was denied a Bacon McMuffin, because it was 10:15, fifteen minutes AFTER the cutoff. He roundhouse kicked the building so hard, it turned into a KFC! One just doesn't quibble with someone like that._

_The Layman: Yeah, Mac finished with my plumbing, I don't want people to think this is just some random fan fiction. This is some random MacGyver/MR fan fiction! I don't really know the difference myself, but my team of seventeen editors tell me there is one._

_(): Yeah, sorry bout that. It's just so fun! *cries in the corner for three years without stopping* I LOST THE GAME!_


	10. Chapter 10

_Right, so another day, another chapter. I need to hurry up and get this darn thing out of my system, now that I've gone and gotten a plot line, I need to get it out so I can finish with 'The Stargate of Alagaesia', my pet project. But enough of my complaining! You came here to read another chapter, not read my typed-out whiny ramblings._

"So where's MacGyver now?" Peter Thorton nearly yelled over the phone. "I know that he's missing, I received a message saying '_Pete, I'm in trouble. I need help._' Now I know MacGyver, and I know for a fact that he isn't the type to exaggerate when he's in trouble."

The voice at the other end of the line began talking, and it took the about two minutes to get through whatever it was they wanted to say.

"No, I don't care about procedure, I'd be out there right now looking for him, except for the fact that I have no clue where to start. He's probably no longer at the facility we sent him to investigate, and I've recently received a certificate of death."

The other person said something more, and Pete's face turned even redder than it had been before.

"Look, I want him found. Dead, alive, I don't care right now, just find the man! If he's dead, I want to pay my last respects to the man. If he's alive, I want to debrief him, and find out what happened." Peter Thorton dropped the phone onto it's cradle; it landed hard enough to give the person on the other end a headache.

Pete sighed then, feeling hopeless and helpless wasn't something he practiced very often, and he wasn't very good at it.

He mind made up, he reached for the phone again.

"Jack Dalton? This is Peter Thorton, from the Phoenix Foundation. I need your help."

Dalton talked for a moment or two, then Pete continued:

"Yes. We sent MacGyver out to a facility suspected of performing illegal genetic experimentation on humans, and he sent a message about needing help about oh, about six days ago, give or take. Now, I've been trying to get the FBI in on this, but they won't hear a word of it."

Dalton spoke some more.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. Wait, I just received a message from MacGyver in my email."

Dalton's question came across the phone, and Peter began reading.

"It says, 'Check Texas. Regards, MacGyver.' That's it."

On the other end, Dalton agreed to help out, unofficially of course, and Pete agreed to keep it unofficial.

"_My best friend -and operative- might still be here today if I hadn't talked him into this. What could have happened?"_

Pete was suddenly snapped out of his musing when the door opened, and what appeared to be a young woman stepped into his office. She wore a black dress, and held a violin in her hand.

"I couldn't help but hear your conversations about MacGyver. I could bring him back to you…for a price."

Her tone and body language were rather suggestive, and Pete found himself fumbling with his pager, programming it to tell him he had a meeting that he needed to leave for at once.

"What price?" he said, suspicious.

"I have something I need him to do for me." she said. Her offhand tone and body language told Pete that she was interested in Mac for business purposes, but it didn't help him to relax any.

Just then, his pager went off, piercing the momentary silence that had fallen over the office. Thorton grabbed it, looked at it, and then smiled at the strange woman standing in front of his desk.

"I'm sorry" he said cheerfully "but I've got to go to a meeting with the board of directors." He snatched his coat and hat off of the rack in the back corner of his office, then held the door open for the strange woman to leave. She moved out of the room, allowing Pete to lock the door before pocketing the key. On his way out, he stopped at the secretary's office.

"I'll be out for the rest of the day, so I locked up my office. I'll be in a meeting with the board of directors."

He handed her a note, and she skimmed over it before crumpling it in her hand.

"Also, could you have someone escort this woman out of the building? I'd rather she not follow me around all day."

"Sure thing, Boss." the secretary said, standing up. "Oh, and you received this in the mail today." she handed over a manila envelope. "It doesn't have a return address, but was addressed to you."

"Thank you." Pete said, taking the envelope. "I'll be back at the usual time tomorrow."

Pete walked quickly to his car, hoping that if he walked quickly enough, he could escape the woman that made him so nervous. It was not to be.

He was still ten feet away from his car when she appeared directly between him and his car. He altered his course, and attempted to get around her, but she continued in her efforts to keep him from his car. Finally though, Peter's patience won out, and she let him get into his car.

"This isn't over, Peter Thorton. Don't forget that." she said menacingly.

Pete didn't answer, just floored the gas pedal, and raced out of the parking lot.

_Meanwhile, in the airspace near Barstow:_

"Let's make camp here for the night." Max said wearily. They had been flying all day, eating their Powerbars on the go to save on time.

Shortly after they landed, someone walked out of the bushes to their campsite.

Everyone in the Flock tensed, then relaxed when they saw Sigma Alpha.

Ajax was the closest to where he had appeared, and thus, the first to greet Sigma Alpha.

"Hey, old man." he said with a smile. "what brings you back to this corner of infinity?"

"You should watch who you call an old man." responded the commander. "It could bite you one day."

"Mmm, I'll risk it." Ajax responded. Moments later, the two were laughing uproariously.

"As for why I'm here," Sigma said. "I'm here to bring dinner for you, and to protect you from harm tonight."

"So you're taking watch tonight?" Ajax asked.

"That's right. The rest of the battalion is at Del'Akkad."

"Okay." Ajax said. "That's good to know."

"So what did you bring for dinner?" Angel asked. "I can't read your mind."

Max put her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud, and Fang lit up with one of his rare, world-stopping smiles.

Sigma smiled at Angel's impetuosity, and then took his backpack off.

"I have here a pair of beef dinners, a pair of chicken dinners, four lamb dinners, and a vegetarian dinner."

"I'll take the vegetarian one." Nudge called from her place by the fire.

"Very well." Sigma said. "Incoming!" he gently lobbed the vegetarian package towards Nudge, who snatched it out of the air before it could hit her.

After everyone had picked their meals, aside from the two angels, there were two meals left, one chicken, and one beef.

"Well, I'd like the beef." Sigma said.

"And I'd like the chicken." Ajax responded.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors?"

"You bet. Best of three."

They squared off against each other, looking for any move that might give the other away. Ajax's hand curled slightly, and indication to Sigma that Ajax would probably go for paper.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors! Shoot!" they said together.

Ajax went for rock, and Sigma had been counting on paper. Ajax won the round because of Sigma's scissors.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot!"

This time, Sigma won, opting for paper against Ajax's rock.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot!"

Ajax had been curling his hand into a fist, indicating to Sigma that it was going to be a Rock, and found that Ajax had chosen scissors to deal with Sigma's paper.

"I'll take the chicken." he said with a grin.

"I guess I'll have the beef then." Sigma said, sighing.

"Why were you guys doing rock, paper, scissors if one of you wanted chicken, and the other wanted beef?" Iggy asked.

The two angels looked at each other for a moment, grinning. It got to the point where Sigma could hold it no longer, and he burst out laughing, Ajax joining in as he did so.

"It's one of the many games we play." Ajax said, recovering. "Sigma and I go way back, all the way back to Del'Akkad, in fact. I've called him 'old man', and he's called me whippersnapper the whole way from then til now. He does deserve the title of old man though. I think he's the only one in present company who can truthfully claim to have stood by and watched the Creation of the Earth. Technically," here he turned to Sigma Alpha. "that would make you older than dirt."

"Yeah, and you've been around for what? Eight hundred years? Nine hundred?" Sigma responded.

"Yeah, somewhere in there, I lost count actually." Ajax responded.

"And that's why I call you upstart." Sigma grinned. "Because only an upstart would be so busy that they forget how old they are."

"Well…I've been busy." Ajax said, trying to defend himself.

"Yeah, you have." Sigma agreed. "Go ahead and rest, I'll be taking watch tonight."

One by one, the members of the Flock dropped off into sleep, Max being the last to succumb.

_Battle Plain:_

When she awoke, eight hours later, she noticed that Angel, Gazzy, Iggy, and Nudge were gone, and Ajax and Sigma were nowhere to be seen. The skies roiled with the promise of a thunderstorm, and even as Max contemplated the lack of Flock members, a fat raindrop hit her cheek. She put her armor on, and even went so far as to engage the helmet. Beside her, Fang did the same, and MacGyver groaned himself awake. Feeling the rain beginning, he also armored up.

Behind the trio, Seventh Symphony appeared with a contingent of six Shite demons behind her. The rain stopped, and Seventh began her attack.

"Maximum Ride." she stated.

Three weapons were pointed at her in an instant.

"There is no need for hostility. I am willing and able to give you everything you ever want. I could have Itex destroyed within the hour if you like. Or, I could give the strength and power you need to destroy them yourself. I could see to it that no one dares attack you and your family ever again." Her voice was sweet and soft, and it lulled Max into inaction.

Fang tensed, and MacGyver forced himself to relax.

"I could give you the power you need to rule this world, and none would question your power and authority." Seventh added.

Max opened a private pipeline to Fang and MacGyver. "Equal angle triangle, full attack." she said.

Max removed her helmet. "Take your offer," she said slowly "and shove it where the sun don't shine!" she snarled.

"So be it." Seventh hissed. She drew a bow across her midsection in short, sharp strokes. Her other hand deftly manipulated the strings on the fret board that was her throat.

The six Shites moved to attack as they heard the hellish music their leader was producing. MacGyver and Fang had already thought about protection from the music she made, and thus could not be affected by the unearthly strains.

"I'll conquer you, your Flock, and then this world will be mine to rule while my master conquers other worlds!" she shrieked.

"Not if I can help it!" Max roared. "Your reinforcements are almost down!"

Indeed, MacGyver and Fang had already disabled two demons a piece, sending them back to the Pit for healing.

Max thought about a cross between a chain-sword and a light saber, coming up with a weapon more than capable of destroying Seventh Symphony, banishing her to the Pit for several centuries to come. With one powerful stroke, she cut the cello-bodied demoness in half, causing her to wail as the black vortex sucked her back to the lake of fire. A Shite had been behind Max, and lodged it's weapon in her shoulder as she delivered the killing stroke, and Max's follow-through decapitated the demon, black some spurting everywhere before it too, vanished. They had won the battle, though the blade was still embedded in her shoulder. Fang removed the demonic weapon, then gritted his teeth, and brought a pure white blade down on his girlfriend's shoulder, destroying all remaining fragments of the demon's blade.

With Seventh Symphony gone, it began to rain, though the thunderstorm was past. Max welcomed the rain as it cleansed the ground of the filth left behind by the demons.

_In the real world_:

Ajax had awoken precisely eight hours after having gone to sleep. Nudge and Iggy were already up, and the Gasman was coming to, little farts escaping as he slowly woke up. Angel was talking earnestly with Sigma about something, and the fire was dying out. Max, Fang and MacGyver appeared to still be sleeping, though it was obvious to Ajax that they were not truly sleeping.

Those that were awake never saw it coming, and just before the bomb detonated, Max and Fang woke up.

There was a thunderous detonation, a flash and a roar, then Ajax's vision faded to black, and he knew no more…

_Max: You took forever to write that up!_

_HW: And your point?_

_Max: I had to sit there and wait while you dreamed up another chapter, and then you just go and blow us all up? Seriously?_

_HW: Speaking of, if you are all blown up like you say, wouldn't you be a ghost of a fictional character? I thought ghosts didn't exist._

_Max: It's not confirmed that we are dead. Just that Ajax is out like a light._

_HW: True. So what do you intend to do?_

_Max: *mumbles* kick your $$._

_HW: Say what? I couldn't hear you._

_Max: Nothing._

_HW: Okay…_

_Answers to readers:_

_The Layman: Are you certain? Also, all the duct tape is used up._

_NinthFeather: Not really. See, I just lost THE GAME. I'm glad you liked the chapter, and just so you know, Texas was chosen arbitrarily as the place for the battle. I had ten spinners, each one with five states on it, and the from the winners, there were ten, from there I had only two spinners, and the two states that won were Colorado and Texas. From there, it was one spinner, divided into two sections instead of five, and Texas won the draw. Yee-haw!_

_So, there's another chapter done, read and review, then stay tuned!_


	11. Epilogue

_Okay, I'm pretty sure I shocked everyone with the ending of the last chapter, but hey, you need something unexpected right at the end, right? Anyway, here's the last chapter._

_Hell, Seventh Circle:_

"How could this have happened?" came the guttural growl. "You must have tempted her wrong."

"Master." Seventh Symphony said, her voice like steel. "You told me to tempt her with power. I did exactly what you said, and even threw in something about her family, for extra incentive, but you set me up to fail! You idiot! You should have figured it out by now, all the shit I had to go through, and it's all down the tubes, and I'm set back at least three centuries, all because of your pigheadedness!" she screamed. "I put hard work into all that, only for it to come to nothing." Her voice evened out, as if she had transitioned into a lecture hall. "If I had been allowed to use whatever I wanted to use, I would have tried cute shoes and chocolate. I worked with what I was given, and I was set up to fail. It is not my fault that I got chosen for the latest edition of _Epic Fail Weekly_." She finished her tirade, and the voice from the bone-black throne said "Yes, I see your point. It's not your fault that you failed, I place the blame squarely on…" here the voice paused, and a finger reached out, pointing at a falling soul in torment. "…that one. I will punish it accordingly. You are free to go." the hand that was semi-visible made a dismissive gesture, and the throne creaked as the entity on it shifted positions. Seventh bowed deeply, then hurried out.

_Heaven:_

Max had no clue where she was. She remembered only a blinding flash and roar, then she was waking up…wherever she was. _"On the upside, the bed is soft, and I smell chocolate-chip cookies."_ Max thought. She opened her eyes, and found that the light was rather bright, so she shut them again, trying to adjust slightly. After flipping over from laying on her stomach, she tried to get to a sitting position, but had a hard time doing so.

"Slowly, now. That's it." A voice said.

Max didn't recognize the voice, but it sounded warm, comforting, and protective. It made her feel safe.

"Where am I?" she asked. "What happened?"

"You," the voice said. "are in Heaven. As for what happened, you took a bomb at close range."

At that, Max started to get up, her first instinct being to find her Flock.

"Hey, hold your horses there. Your family members are alive and well. Just rest for a bit; you can't expect to take a bomb point blank like that and then just get up and go. Take it easy, you've got all eternity."

Max nodded, and sank back down on the bed.

"You said my family is alive and well." Max said. "That's everybody, right?"

"The people that arrived with you include Fang, Iggy, Timothy, Nudge, and Angel. MacGyver, Ajax and Sigma Alpha also arrived with you. Does that satisfy your question, sugar?"

"Yeah, thanks." She laid back down on the bed, forgetting that her wings would be in the way. For some reason though, after she laid down, she didn't feel any pain from her back or wings, and wondered why. The realization that her wings weren't there was enough to make her snap open her eyes. This time, the light wasn't painfully bright like before, and she sat up again.

"If you are feeling better, I will escort you to see your family now." Max looked toward the direction of the voice, and saw someone who Max would have pinned as the picture of the 'Big Momma' stereotype, and was wearing a simple white robe with gold and purple trimmings. The face seemed familiar somehow, but Max couldn't place it.

"I hope you don't mind my asking," Max began. "but you seem rather familiar somehow."

"**You do not recognize Me?"**

Max's eyes widened in recognition, before a powerful urge swept over her, and she knelt in front of the Person standing in front of her.

After a moment, the woman touched Max's shoulder. "Come, we will see your family."

Max stood up, and together, the two left the room. They walked across a tastefully decorated courtyard, with the symbol of a pair of wings emblazoned in the center.

"So, what is this place?" Max asked as they crossed the courtyard.

"This is your family's new home." She replied.

"And what should I call you? I don't know your name."

The woman chuckled. "Oh…so many to choose from. I suppose you could just call Me Big Momma for now. That is the stereotype you thought of the moment you laid eyes on Me isn't it?"

"Yeah." Max agreed. "You never did tell me what happened to The Gasman."

"Oh luv, do you mean Timothy? I know you called him The Gasman, but he doesn't have that affliction anymore. He was healed of that right after he arrived."

"Did he build the bomb that killed us?" Max queried. "Because if so, I think I need to thank him."

"No, he didn't build that bomb, sugar." Big Momma said. "It was a fifty pound bomb dropped by a dive bomber. He was testing for an airshow, and thought that he had a disabled bomb with him. He also thought that the camp was the one set up by his partner for the purpose of using it as target practice. An innocent mistake on his part, and the jury formed to try him will find him not guilty."

They were across the courtyard by now, and they came to a door with a golden plate screwed to it that said 'Recreation Room'. Max pushed down on the ornately carved golden handle, and then pushed in the door. As it opened on well-oiled hinges, Max saw the familiar faces she had been with for the majority of her life. Ajax, MacGyver and Sigma Alpha were also there, standing off to one side.

"MAX!" yelled the younger ones, and Fang's head swiveled around to see Max. She was positively radiant, decked out in a white t-shirt with new denim jeans, and sparkling clean tennis shoes, her wings spread slightly behind her and immaculately groomed.

The Flock, similarly attired, swarmed her for several moments before letting her go.

Fang was the only Flock member that didn't run over to her, and hug her before she could even get in the door. He was sitting on a black leather loveseat, sipping from a cup filled with shaved ice, and reading a relatively decent sized book.

After the initial Max swarming, everyone pretty much went back to whatever they were doing, and as Max passed Fang's loveseat, he said "Care to join me?" His eyes flicked up to meet Max's eyes, then back to his book, and then back to Max again. After a moment, he put the book aside just as Max sat down.

There was no hesitation from either of them. One moment, they were just sitting on the loveseat, the next, they were passionately making out with each other.

Sigma paused in his game to watch the two love-birds, and Ajax took advantage of that to score another goal.

"Hey! I wasn't even watching!" Sigma protested.

"Exactly my point, old man." Ajax smirked. "Exactly my point."

_HW: So, that's done._

_Max: What have you done?_

_HW: Sent you to Heaven. Why? Is there a problem with your accommodations?_

_Max: Well, no…_

_HW: Is there anything wrong with your family?_

_Max: Well, no…_

_HW: So you're telling me that you've saved the world, and you are in a perfect environment, with your wings, your family, and your oh-so-studly boyfriend, and you have a problem with that?"_

_Max: Uhh…this is my brain before Fang: O, and this is my brain after Fang: o. It's quite sad!_

_HW: So that's all your crying about. See ya, hope you enjoy eternity with your boyfriend…_

_Max: Get back here!_

_HW: I'd love to stay, but my visitor's pass is about to expire. Bye!_

_Max: ._

_Okay, so this is officially the first story I have ever completed! Yay me._

_Answers to readers:_

_NinthFeather: Yeah, Max doesn't mince words when she's made up her mind. The game with the rock-paper-scissors between Sigma and Ajax was this: If Ajax wins, the Sigma pretends that he will have to 'make the sacrifice' and eat the beef. If Sigma had won, Ajax would have pretended to make the sacrifice and eat the chicken. Stupid stuff, but that's Ajax for you._


End file.
